Mission: Baby
by swagkura
Summary: One night a mysterious figure drops off a baby boy in front of the Hokage's door. Tsunade leaves it to Sakura and Naruto to take care of the baby but what they soon find out is that the baby isn't a normal baby. Rated T Rating may change (might add lemons) Narusaku and possibly other pairings (revising story up to chapter 4 done)
1. Mission: Shinachiku

**Mission: Baby**

 **Prologue and**

 **chapter 1: Mission: Shinachiku**

 **This story will be a Narusaku and maybe a few other pairings.**

 **Summary: One night a mysterious figure drops off a baby boy in front of the Hokage's door. Tsunade leaves it to Sakura and Naruto to take care of the baby but what they soon find out is that the baby isn't a normal baby.**

Xxx

A figure with a hood over their head snuck into the Hokage's office and stole some sheets of papers from inside the desk. The person then went to the Hokage's sleeping corridors and sets down a basket with some blankets in it.

"I'm sorry young one, but you're too dangerous my mission comes first. I hope a nice family loves you and take good care of you." The person knocked on the door then disappeared with the wind.

A grumpy, angry woman with blonde locks looked around the hall wondering who knocked she heard babbling come from down at her feet. Tsunade's eyes widened as she realized that a baby was right in front of her abandoned. Tsunade picked up the child and entered her room. "Where did you come from?" As a response, the baby just yawned. "You're tired so let's go to sleep and worry about this tomorrow."

Xxx

Tsunade carried the crying baby boy and tried to settle him down. It was about 5:00 in the morning she tried everything he wasn't hungry, his diaper didn't need to be changed, and he didn't have to burp.

Finally, she gave up she summoned an Anbu member to get her student. "Why not drop this brat off on someone else?" Tsunade went to her office with the fussy child in her arms.

She looked at the child closely and wondered where the baby came from. As she was deep in thought, someone knocked on her door. A grin spread on her face, "come in!" The busty blonde attempted to hide her grin when the young pinkette walked in tiredly.

"You called Tsunade-sama," She mumbled half asleep. She didn't even notice that a baby was in her presence crying.

"Sakura you have a long term mission. Before you ask, let me finish you are to take care of this infant for as long as I tell you to oh and get Naruto to help you. Here's some money to help you along the way." Tsunade handed her the crying baby and pushed her out of the office. "Don't come back with that brat unless it's important." The door slammed behind the dumbstruck teen.

"W-what just happened?"

Xxxxxxx

"I can't believe her she charges me with a kid. There's no use crying over it...speaking of crying."

Sakura looks at the baby in her arms he had a full head of blonde hair. She couldn't see his eyes since they were closed. A small smile spread on her face she hummed a tone her mother sang to her when she was upset. After a few minutes, the baby stopped crying and was soon asleep again.

"What am I going to do? I can't go home my parents would kill me. Well, at least, you give me an excuse to finally move out."

A familiar apartment complex comes into view, and she quickened her pace towards it.

Xxxxxxx

 _Knock knock knock_

Sakura was mentally praying that Naruto was at home she hasn't seen the blonde in a week which was surprising.

Before she knocked again, the door opened slowly and revealed a horrible looking blonde.

"Na-Naruto are you ok?" She asked nervously weary about going inside.

"Sakura-chan? What are you doing here so early in the morning?" He asked back stifling a yawn.

"Sorry to bother you at this time but I have a small tiny favor." Naruto looked into her eyes his eyes said, "I'll do anything for you," but she couldn't tell.

"Shoot."

"I was wondering if I could stay here for the time being? Just until I find an apartment." As if that one question was an energy boost he quickly nodded and stood up straight. "C-come on in Sakura-chan make yourself at home!" He shouted she shushed him and walked into the small place.

Naruto then noticed the green eyes looking up at him from Sakura's arms, and they weren't her own. "Sakura-chan what is that?!" The baby's lips started quivering, and he burst into tears crying loudly.

Sakura glared at him as he stared at the crying infant. "It's a baby Baka." Naruto's jaw dropped to the ground at the shocking news. "But why do you have it?!" He knew he hadn't seen her in a week, but he was sure she didn't do anything with anyone, and she wasn't pregnant. He silently panicked knowing that the kid was possibly conceived by some other guy.

Sakura started comforting the crying baby by rubbing his back and walking around. "It's a long-term mission that Tsunade-sama dumped on me." To say he was relieved was an understatement.

"Ohhh." He didn't know how to react to the news that his crush was going to be taking care of a baby and if he didn't know any better, he would say the boy looked like him, and Sakura had a child together. The thought made him feel giddy inside.

"Does he have a name?" Sakura shook her head no finally getting the baby to quiet down.

Naruto thought about a name for a brief moment before he came up with a good one. "Shinachiku." The baby was about 11 months old and seemed to like the name a lot.

"I like it." She smiled down at the baby, and he stared back up at her with darker green orbs then her own. Naruto smiled at the sight the baby tried to reach up to pull on her hair but couldn't reach it.

Sakura caught his eye and told him to come closer. "Do you want to hold him Naruto?"

Naruto nodded and held out his hands to take the baby boy in his arms. He was nervous but when Sakura showed him the proper way to hold a baby his nervousness faded. Naruto gently held the kid while he swayed side to side. "You may not be mine, but I'm going to protect you with my life. I promise."

"N-Naruto you don't have to say that as if you're his adoptive parent." Naruto stopped swaying to speak to Sakura.

"I don't want this child to end up how I was...alone, and he might be a mission, but he's something more to me." Naruto couldn't explain it, but he felt a deep connection to the baby. He triggered his instinct to protect with his own life.

Sakura smiled sadly at the pair both of them were like new parents unsure what to do. "We're going to have to pick Shinachiku up a lot of things." Sakura walked up to them and ruffled Shinachiku's hair.

"Is a baby expensive?" Sakura nervously laughed before she nodded her head yes.

"But it's a good thing Shishou gave me some money." Sakura sighed and flopped down on Naruto's couch. She didn't get much sleep last night tormented with nightmares. By the time she did go back to sleep, Tsunade had summoned for her.

"Naruto could you watch Shinachiku for a little bit I'm going to take a small nap." Sakura stretched and yawned just about to fall asleep right then and there.

"Sakura-chan you can take the bed if you want I'll be out here playing with Shinachiku." Sakura shot Naruto a thankful look before she left towards Naruto's room.

"Now let's see what we are going to do while Sakura-chan is resting." He sets the baby on the couch. Naruto looked around the bare apartment for what the two can do that was until Naruto caught a whiff of something foul.

Naruto snapped his head to the baby who sat staring up at him with innocent forest green eyes. They stared at each other waiting for one to crack.

Shinachiku lips began trembling a sign that another round of crying was going to come forward if Naruto doesn't change his diaper. Naruto quickly picked him up and starts panicking.

He had no idea how to change a diaper, and they currently had no diapers. A light bulb turned on when he finally has an idea of what to do. Naruto set Shinachiku back on the couch and does his Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. A clone of himself appeared beside him much to Shinachiku's fascination.

"Here's some money buy diapers quick!" The shadow clone took the frog wallet and quickly exit. Naruto picked the baby up and goes to the bathroom to give the baby a bath. He makes sure that the bath wasn't too cold or too hot. Naruto also made sure it wasn't too much water and hoped that his clone got back quick.

Once the water was just right Naruto worked on getting the fussy baby out of his clothes. Naruto removed the footie pajamas first.

Naruto eyed the diaper with disgust the thought of taking the diaper off was a scary one. With shaky hands, he pulled back the flaps. Almost instantly the smell coming from Shinachiku's diaper hit him full blast. Naruto was close to fainting right there on the spot, but he had a job to do. What made it worse was that Shinachiku thought it would be funny to piss on him.

"Shinachiku!" Naruto hissed having his favorite shirt covered in urine.

Shinachiku stopped giggling and laughing when he sensed a dark aura surround Naruto. Instead of laughing he replaced it with crying.

Naruto's eyes widened when Shinachiku started crying. "No no no no! Stop, please! I'm sorry don't cry Shinachiku!" Naruto put on a big false grin to try and cheer up the crying baby. He then began to clean up his nasty mess with tissue. "See you're all clean tada. It's bath time now!" Naruto picked up a butt naked Shinachiku and started mimicking what Sakura did earlier rubbing his back and walking around.

Luckily for Naruto, it was enough to calm him down. Naruto sighed he felt the tension leave his body. Naruto set down Shinachiku in the bathtub, and he instantly started splashing water everywhere. Naruto facepalm before lazily getting up to get some towels.

"Geez, Shinachiku you're quite a handful." Naruto used a small towel to clean the baby as he played in the water.

Once Naruto was finally done giving Shinachiku a bath his whole shirt and hair was soaked.

Naruto flopped done on the couch with Shinachiku wrapped in an orange towel. He wondered where his clone was with those diapers. He planned on resting his eyes for a few seconds not falling asleep.

Xx

Meanwhile with Naruto's clone

Naruto's clone wasn't sure where he could get diapers from and got easily distracted.

Xx

Sakura felt a bit refreshed getting about an hour and a half of sleep. She was not expecting a fast asleep Naruto holding a wide awake Shinachiku in an orange towel. Shinachiku babbled to the asleep Naruto, and she found the sight cute.

Shinachiku turned to her and reached his chubby hands out to her. Sakura chuckled and picked him up. "I see you and Naruto had bath time but where are your clothes."

Suddenly the clone of Naruto came in panting with a pack of diapers in his hand. The clone gave her the diapers and poofed away. Sakura looked at the diapers then Shinachiku and everything clicked.

"Let's get you in these diapers." Sakura opened the pack of diapers and took one out. She lifted his legs and slid the diaper under him and set him back down. She folded the flap and made sure the diaper was secure. His diaper would have to do she just hoped he wouldn't catch a diaper rash. Sakura looks for the footie pajamas and put it back on him before waking Naruto up.

"Naruto wake up."

"Sakura-chan." Naruto moaned seductively.

Sakura blushed red and with her free hand punched her teammate on the head. He woke up instantly after the hit. "Argh Sakura-chan why?" He groaned out clutching his head.

"For having perverted dreams about me now get up, we're going shopping for Shinachiku." Naruto groaned and trudged to his room to find something else to wear than his pajamas.

"I swear that baka." Shinachiku giggled at his caretaker's antics.

After a couple of minutes waiting for Naruto, he was now decent. "Did you get some sleep Sakura-chan?" Sakura nodded before walking straight out of the door with Naruto close behind. He locked the door, and they were soon trekking to the market section of Konoha.

 **A/N: Review and let me know what you thought of Chapter 1.**

 **Don't know when I'm going to actually update I'll just do it when I have time.**

 **Every chapter title will start off with Mission:**

 **Revised date 2-3-17**


	2. Mission: The Village

**Chapter 2:**

 **Mission: The Village**

 **A/N: Decided to post since I'm on winter break and have plenty of time. The first chapter was something I wrote a while ago and decided to expand on the idea. This story will start off slowly then BAM comes the angst.**

Everywhere the trio went they received strange looks from the citizens. They even heard whispering along the lines of them having a child. At one point Sakura almost snapped when the staring became too much of a nuisance. If she didn't have Shinachiku in her arms, she probably would have lost her temper at the constant staring the villagers did.

"They act as if they never seen a baby before." Naruto felt slightly guilty the staring was probably because of him. The villagers didn't hate him like they use to, but that didn't mean they liked him they tolerated him.

Naruto sighed and glanced at his crush and the baby she was carrying. "How close is the baby store?"

Sakura suddenly stopped in the middle of the street it was a good thing it was still pretty early, so the streets weren't as crowded. Naruto focused his attention back on Sakura when she stood frozen in place. "Sakura-chan?"

Sakura bit her lip a nervous gesture he just realized she has. "I-I don't know where the baby store is." Naruto blinked trying to register what she just said. Her blush was as clear as day embarrassed right where she was standing.

"Oh, that's fine we'll just ask for directions." That didn't seem to ease Sakura's embarrassment. She was indeed a prideful woman that was one of the many things he liked about her.

"Come on that person looks like they know the way." Sakura nodded and trailed behind him.

"Kon'nichiwa Misu but I was wondering if you knew where the baby store is?" The lady stared for a little too long her eyes go from Naruto to Sakura then Shinachiku. "What a cute baby you two must be proud to bring such a handsome boy into this world." The lady walked past Naruto and went straight to Sakura and Shinachiku. His little chubby fingers gripped her shirt as he sucked on his thumb. His forest green eyes were filled with curiosity and wonder as he took in his surroundings.

"Look, lady, we're kind of in a hurry so could you tell us whe-"

"Oh, I'm sorry I can't recall where it is." Naruto gaped at the strange lady who has messed up Shinachiku's already messy hair. Naruto tried not to be annoyed, but he just couldn't help it.

"Well, then you're no help see you around." Naruto grabbed Sakura's elbow and pulled her away from the woman.

"Geez, she was no help can't believe we've lived in the village all our lives and can't even find a simple store." Naruto sat on the bench worn out already. Between the baby and the constant staring, he was already exhausted which was so unlike him since he was usually full of energy.

"Naruto are you ok you seem... tired" Naruto plastered on a false grin to ease Sakura's worries, but it seemed she saw through it.

"Fine don't tell me the truth I'm just trying to be a good friend come on Shinachiku let's go find the store ourselves." Sakura was about to leave without looking back until he called after her.

"Wait Sakura-chan! I'm sorry I just haven't been getting enough sleep." It was the truth actually he hasn't been getting any sleep because of his constant nightmares that seemed to have picked up over the week. Sakura's gaze softened as cerulean met emerald truth deep in his irises.

"Alright, Naruto you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. Let's just find that store and get the things we need to take care of Shinachiku." Naruto nodded his energy seemed to come back.

Sakura watched him start marching away with only one thing in mind getting to that baby store. Sakura then looked down at Shinachiku who was surprisingly quiet. "Come on Sakura-chan."

Sakura gasped and snapped out of her thoughts she sped up to catch up to Naruto. She felt oddly elated at that moment, and she couldn't figure out why. Her happiness only increased when she spotted the store down the street. She held on tightly to Shinachiku and ran to the store leaving a confused Naruto behind.

Shinachiku starts giggling enjoying the breeze on his face from her run. "The store is this way Naruto!" Naruto blinked then ran after her quickly catching up. Sakura grinned up at Naruto having found the store herself swelling her pride. Naruto chuckled and opened the door for her attempting to be a gentleman. "Thanks."

"Hello welcome to my store." An old lady about 70 greeted the trio since it seemed they were her first customers of the day.

"Hi we need help we are inexperienced about babies so could you help us pick everything we need for them," Sakura smiled nervously at the woman who continued to smirk at them both.

Silence settled around the group for at least a minute before the woman finally decided to speak up. "Of course, I'll help you young folks out it's not easy being new parents." Sakura was about to tell the woman that they weren't parents, but she continued speaking not giving Sakura a chance to retort.

"Come follow me grab a cart you'll need it." Sakura grabbed a cart and put Shinachiku inside of it. Naruto and Sakura exchanged quick glances before following the woman.

"From the looks of that little guy, he's maybe 10 or 11 months old maybe older so what you're going to need are some formula and baby food. No cows' milk until you know for sure he's 1." The old lady put in containers of stuff that looked a lot like powder and small jars of mashed up fruit and vegetables.

They walked to another aisle that was full of different brands of diapers, changing tables and bath necessity. The lady started throwing packs of diapers and powder and baby wipes in the cart and handed Naruto the box that was the changing table.

Without a word, they let the woman pack stuff into the cart ranging from toys to pacifiers to blankets and clothes plus more. The two teens could only imagine the price all the stuff was going to cost. Naruto had to summon clones to help carry the stuff. Shinachiku clapped his hands happily at all the stuff just for him. Once they were getting some of the stuff in brown bags, all three of their stomachs were growling, and they were most likely broke.

Everyone except the old lady who was bagging the items and Shikachiku were unhappy including Naruto's clones. "You should know that we have a half off whole purchase for new parents. So I ask are you both new parents?" Sakura and Naruto exchanged glances they caught the knowing undertone in her voice. It was obvious that she didn't do it to every new couple that came in but was generous enough to do it for them.

"Yeah, we are Baa-chan." The price was cut in half and was a bit more affordable and left them with some to spare.

Sakura and Naruto were both thankful for the kind old lady's help and compassion. "Thank you for everything." Sakura bowed, and Naruto followed her lead bowing also.

"It was no problem at all just helping young folks out. Now you two take care of the little boy and life is going to throw you obstacles but I know with each other you'll get through it." With one last thanks, they parted from the store. Naruto had the idea to use Kage Bunshin to take the stuff back to Naruto's place since it was way too much to carry their selves.

"That was really nice of her to cut the final price in half." Naruto nodded in agreement not really paying attention but instead making faces at Shinachiku. It was good to keep Shinachiku distracted since it was obvious that he was getting pretty hungry and when babies get hungry they cry.

It seemed that by thinking about Shinachiku not crying caused him to cry then and there. It was amazing how loud that a baby could cry. Sakura attempted to calm the baby down, but nothing was working. She let Naruto have a go at calming the little blonde down but just like with her he continued to cry. "He's hungry, so we'll just hurry and get home and feed him." Sakura must not notice it, but Naruto did, her little slip caused his heart to soar. He outwardly grinned his signature fox-like grin that lit up his whole face. Sakura had to turn away from him to avoid getting blinded.

X

They finally reached Naruto's apartment trying to avoid and ignore the looks everyone gave them. It felt good to be able to calm Shinachiku down finally. The teens walked into the apartment with a crying and hungry baby. They found the bag filled with food and got a spoon to feed Shinachiku. "Here comes the train Shinachiku." Sakura made engine noises for added effect. As the spoon full of mashed peas came closer Shinachiku's cries only got louder if that was possible.

Sakura sighed after another failed attempt at feeding Shinachiku the disgusting looking stuff. "Please eat it Shinachiku." Instead of eating the peas he smacked it away from him. The food stuck on the wall to Naruto's displeasure.

"Sakura-chan even I wouldn't eat that." Sakura glared at him frustration clear in her eyes. Naruto goes through the bag of food looking for the least nastiest looking jar of food he could find. He grinned at the jar of applesauce in the bag.

"Here Sakura-chan try this." Sakura with no other options took the jar opened it and put it out in front of Shinachiku. The little blonde sniffed and looked down at the new food in front of him. Sakura smiled encouragingly at him to try it for her. The two caretakers were on the edge of their seats waiting to see what he was going to do next.

To their relief, Shinachiku opened his mouth and allowed her to put the spoon in. Without any issues, he ate the applesauce until it's all gone and even stopped crying. "Thanks for the help Naruto."

"No problem Sakura-chan but now I'm hungry." Naruto really was hungry and hoped Sakura and him could eat at Ichiraku ramen.

Sakura chuckled and handed Naruto Shinachiku she went back to the bag and pulled out a bottle and some formula. She also found the pacifiers and put a blue one in Shinachiku's mouth. Sakura goes about preparing a diaper bag (that the older lady told her about) full of the necessity for Shinachiku. Sakura looked around for a moment before finding what she was looking for the stroller. "Now we can try this."

Naruto was surprised it almost sounded like Sakura was excited. "O-ok Sakura-chan," Sakura smiled gently at the two blondes before gesturing to Naruto to follow her out the door. "Sakura-chan can we head to Ichiraku ramen?"

"Oh, Naruto how many times have I told you that Ichiraku is unhealthy especially if you eat it every day." Naruto had a look on his face that begged her to reconsider. And like a sucker, she fell for it. "Fine, we'll go." Naruto set Shinachiku in the stroller and fastened him up.

Sakura watched with gentle eyes at the way Naruto treated Shinachiku with such kindness as if he was his own. She held on tightly to the strap of the baby bag when Naruto even ruffled his blonde hair. **"He would make a great father."** Her inner said voicing the words she refused to think about.

Sakura began walking away from the display that made her heart beat a bit faster then it should. Naruto noticed her abrupt leave and quickly followed behind her pushing the stroller. "Sakura-chan you didn't tell me you were leaving," Naruto whined before she could say anything back a couple of girls around their age walked up to them. "What a cute baby is he yours?" Naruto was going to say no but was cut off.

"Of course, he is his they look alike." One of the girls said.

Sakura rolled her eyes and stormed away repeating to herself that she wasn't jealous. **"Whatever helps you sleep at night,"** Naruto called out to her and somehow got past the crowd of girls that formed in a matter of minutes. "Sakura-chan why do you keep walking away."

"Well unlike you I'm hungry." He could tell that there was something deeper than that but left it alone. They walked to Ichiraku in silence neither feeling the need to say anything.

Naruto received looks from all the females they walked by. Sakura damn near snapped at each girl that walked up to them and asked to hold Shinachiku. Naruto being an idiot he doesn't feel the rage rolling off of her. The little ramen shop came into view, and she had never been so happy to see it.

Sakura unknowingly sped up to get to the shop faster. "Sakura-chan..." he wasn't an idiot as much as everyone thought, but he knew that she was upset at him he just couldn't figure out why.

"Ahh, Naruto my favorite custom-" Teuchi looked down to where his hands were connected to...

For once Teuchi was stunned to silence, he glanced at Sakura then at Naruto and then at the sleeping baby. Ayame came from the back with a happy grin on her face until she noticed her father's stunned expression and the three before them. "Awww he's such a cutie!" Ayame slid over the counter to get a closer look at the blonde that to her looked like a carbon copy of Naruto.

Teuchi began chuckling finally snapping out of his shock. "Come on and take a seat I'm sure you're hungry this one on the house."

Ayame was busy gushing at the child. "I bet you're real popular with the females now Naruto." Sakura snorted and walked past them to take a seat at the counter. "The usual Sakura?" Sakura sighed and nodded with a tired smile. She really needed a new place to eat at it was bad that Teuchi knew her order by heart.

"We always knew you two were going to get together, but we didn't know you two would have a kid already." Sakura began coughing choking on her own saliva receiving worried glances from everyone.

"No no no I think you're mistaken this is just a long-term mission that Tsunade forced on me. Also, Naruto and I aren't together," Sakura said with defiance as if the thought of having a child or even being in a relationship with Naruto wasn't possible.

"Oh ok, can I hold him?" Sakura calmed down and nodded to the young woman. Sakura turned back to Teuchi who just arrived with two bowls of ramen one for her and one for Naruto.

"Thank you." She grabbed a chopstick and broke it apart. "Itadakimasu." Before digging into her ramen, she glanced over at her blonde friend who was usually the first to dig in.

"Naruto? Aren't you hungry?"

"Oh uh yeah." Naruto sat down beside her with a sad expression. He was still thinking about how strongly she disagreed with them actually being a couple. "Itadakimasu." He said slowly before eating at a normal pace. Sakura sighed before also digging into her ramen she would just have to talk to him later.

It seemed that the longer they stayed and ate Naruto's mood shot back up. Although the issue still bothered him but he didn't want Sakura to worry about him.

Sakura being done eating first was given Shinachiku by Ayame. It was a surprise that Shinachiku was still fast asleep. Ayame watched the two closely as they communicated and looked like a family. From an outsider point of view, it looked like they were really a family if you didn't know the situation.

"He actually looks like a clone of Naruto," Sakura smiled down sadly at the child in her arms her eyes tracing his every feature.

"I guess he does." The comforting silence was interrupted by a loud shriek behind them. Standing with the flap lifted and gaped openly was her best friend (although that could be debated) and rival Ino Yamanaka.

"You went and got knocked up?!" And after that loud yell came a baby's cry from her arms. Just another day in the strange life of Sakura Haruno.

xxxx

 **A/N: Don't forget to review.**

 **Japanese translations:**

 **Kon'nichiwa Misu-Hello miss**

 **Itadakimasu-Thanks for the food**

 **Revise: 2-3-17**


	3. Mission: Friends

**Chapter 3:**

 **Mission: Friends**

 _"You went and got knocked up?!" And after that loud yell came a baby's cry from her arms._

Sakura at that moment wanted to bang her head on the counter. "Ino-pig you woke the baby up!" Sakura snapped trying to calm down the center of the chaos.

"And you decided to get knocked up by Naruto nonetheless! I have a right to yell!" Ino yelled back just as loudly as she came in.

"Dammit, Ino-pig stop screeching!" Ino looked offended before she began screaming again purposely loud.

"Forehead you're also screeching and for the love of Kami shut that kid up!" Sakura somehow in a day since taking care of the baby developed a protective motherly instinct. She stood up suddenly with the crying baby in one of her arms. She glared at her best friend a weird look in her eyes.

"Shinachiku can cry however much he wants since some pig decided to interrupt his sleep," Sakura growled much quieter than earlier.

Meanwhile, Naruto, Teuchi, and Ayame stood to the side watching the two teens argue like a cat and a dog. Naruto was worried when Shinachiku wouldn't stop crying in his caretaker's arms. He wanted to comfort the crying child, but he was afraid of Sakura's wrath.

"Well sorry for being aware and shocked that you somehow got knocked up forehead," Ino growled back both of their faces getting closer and closer as they continued their back and forth banter.

"Enough!" everyone in the shop looked over to the owner of the ramen shop with questioning looks. "Instead of arguing why don't you take care of Shinachiku first then explain later."

Sakura looked down at the smaller blonde who continued to throw a fit in her arms. She completely forgot that he was even there and they were arguing over him. **"What kind of caretaker are you not paying attention to poor little Shinachiku."**

"Gomen Shinachiku." Sakura held him close to her chest and rubbed the back of the distressed baby. She was horrible at taking care of a kid. It made her feel unworthy of the mission Tsunade gave her. Her Shishou could have had anyone take care of him, yet she chose an inexperienced teen. Sakura felt her eyes water as she stared down at Shinachiku who was beginning to stop crying. She wasn't cut out to be a mother figure to some kid she just met not even 24 hours ago.

She lowered her head wanting no one especially Ino to see her crying right then and there. Shinachiku felt something wet drop on his face. The blonde looked up at her dry tears on his own cheeks. At seeing the pinkette crying, he reached his chubby fingers to (attempt) wipe away her tears. "Moumou."

Sakura smiled down sadly at the child that was trying to speak and comfort her. "Shinachiku thank you." Sakura soon got her confidence back after her little breakdown.

"Ino this is Shinachiku me and Naruto's mission given to us by Shishou." Sakura ignored the looks of concern from everyone and hoped that they caught that she wanted to just forget about it.

Ino looks stunned for a minute before smiling down at the little child. "He looks like you two buddied up and had a child together." Sakura and Naruto exchanged looks before turning their attention away from each other.

"So you two are like his mama and dada or what?" The duo never really thought about it well Sakura hasn't. Maybe the two could focus on finding Shinachiku's birth parents. But the thought seemed ludicrous Shinachiku's birth parents had to be horrible to just leave him like that.

"How old is he anyway?" Ino studied Shinachiku as if he was some kind of unfamiliar specimen.

"We think ten months or older not sure." Ino nodded agreeing with the estimated age.

A sly grin appeared on Ino's face as she directed her attention to Naruto. "So papa Naruto enjoying being a family with forehead over here?"

Everyone knew that Naruto has a thing for Sakura except Sakura herself. Ino found it fun to pick with the blonde on his feeling for her oblivious best friend. "Pig it's not like that we're just taking care of Shinachiku."

Ino faced the two giving them skeptical looks before brushing it off completely. "I have an idea tonight Konoha 11 get together, and you introduce the baby."

"Sure," Naruto said quickly thankful for the change in topic. Shinachiku looked at him with outstretched arms. He wanted to be held by his other caretaker. Naruto grinned brightly at his almost carbon copy clone. Sakura smiled softly before handing him the small child. Ino watched them carefully the way they looked like a couple and parents.

"Sure Ino where should we meet?" Sakura turned her attention back to Ino awaiting an answer to her question.

"Yakiniku Q." Sakura nodded and the three soon split off from Ino. Before leaving Sakura made sure to get Ino to promise her to not gossip about them. Ino of course promised, but Sakura still was skeptical.

"Ano Sakura-chan is everything ok?" Sakura looked at Naruto and his little twin in his hands. Shinachiku refused to get back in his stroller favoring being in someone's arms instead.

"Nothing is wrong... well I guess I'm just worried about Shinachiku meeting our friends. The villagers already have the wrong idea about us." Naruto slightly frowned he didn't really mind what everyone said about them he just wished it was true.

"Right don't worry Sakura-chan our friends will understand and love Shinachiku who wouldn't!?" Sakura beamed at the two blondes it was a wonder why she was even worried.

Sakura turned away from the duo to continue walking to Naruto's place. She stopped once she realized that Naruto was not following her. "Sakura-chan."

She raised an eyebrow when his happy expression turned into a serious one. "Shinachiku is lucky to have you taking care of him." Sakura stared at the blonde with in a new light she looked away a blush quickly forming.

"Baka let's just go." Naruto nodded and followed her to his apartment.

Once arriving at the apartment, Naruto set Shinachiku down on the couch to help Sakura clean up the bags of baby stuff. "Here you can put this together, and I'll put this together." Sakura handed him the crib as she took the changing table.

"Ano Sakura-chan have you ever put anything like this together." Sakura gave Shinachiku one of his various toys.

"Nope but it shouldn't be that hard right?" If only she knew at that moment how wrong she was.

After most of the day goes by and many failed attempts to put things together they finally had everything built together. Naruto laid on his back with Sakura resting on his chest.

He wasn't sure how or when they got in this position, but he wasn't complaining. He hesitated to wrap his arms around her waist and right when he gathered his courage she was starting to awaken. It only took her a couple of minutes to realize the position they were in.

Sakura sat up blushing but not before slapping Naruto into a wall. "B-baka why are you so close to me!?" She shrieked.

Naruto groaned trying to get unstuck from the wall. Shinachiku clapped excitedly at the display of violence. "What was that for!?"

"For being a pervert!" Sakura crossed her arms and turned, so her back was to him. Naruto gaped at the girl openly honestly confused.

"Wha- I didn't do anything dattebayo!" Sakura doesn't listen to him she instead turned her attention to Shinachiku.

"Come on Shinachiku let's get you ready to meet Konoha 11." Sakura picked the baby up and goes to the bathroom. As Naruto tried to justify his innocence, the door slammed behind her hard.

Naruto sighed and stretched out the cricks in his neck and back. His cheek stung and swelled red. It was going to be a long night for the blonde. He hoped he could somehow get back on her good side.

X

Finally, it was time to go to Yakiniku Q and meet up with everyone else. Sakura had managed to get Shinachiku in a new diaper and new clothes. Shinachiku wore a green shirt with an orange frog on it which Naruto obviously picked out; he also wore black pants and brown sandals. "Who knew getting you ready would take so long?" Sakura said to the baby in her right arm.

Sakura had on her usual casual outfit a skirt and red shirt with yellow sleeves. "Hurry up Naruto!" As soon as she said that he came stumbling out of his room attempting to put his sandals on. Shinachiku gestured that he wants to be set down, but Sakura wouldn't let him.

"Gomen Shinachiku but I don't want you to get all dirty playing on the floor." Shinachiku at not being able to play with his new toys pouted. Sakura awed at the sight of the small pouting child. Sakura looked Naruto over once and found nothing wrong with what he was wearing. He had on a light blue shirt and a much darker blue pants and his usual sandals. He originally wanted to wear an orange shirt, but Sakura threatened to castrate him, in other words, he probably wouldn't be wearing orange for a long time.

Sakura smiled brightly once she saw that the two blondes were ready to go. "Oh, one more thing Naruto I'm going to stop by my parent's place to pick up some clothes for me." Naruto nodded making faces at the still pouty baby trying to cheer him up.

"Let's just go." Naruto grabbed the bag full of baby stuff needed to take care of Shinachiku.

X

Ino looked around the table and saw everyone having a good time chatting and eating. She was a bit worried that Sakura and Naruto weren't there yet. She tried her hardest to keep her mouth shut about their situation.

"Oi Ino where's Naruto and Sakura," Kiba said from across the table. Ino sighed she was going to tell them all why they were probably late but as soon as her mouth open in came the trio.

"Hey everyone sorry we're late." The section that the group of teens gathered in was quiet once everyone got a good look of the three. Surprisingly Lee was the first to break the intense silence.

"Noooo my youthful Sakura-chan I have lost her to my youthful rival." Lee stood up from his seat fist clenched and crying tears of sadness. Sakura would have face palmed if not for the child in her arms.

"N-Naruto-kun." Hinata couldn't believe what her eyes were seeing. Her crush since their genin days had a child that looked exactly like him with green eyes like Sakuras. It was painful for Hinata to even think about. Meanwhile, everyone else was to shock to come up with words to express how they were feeling.

"Well, forehead before fights start breaking out why don't you tell them what's really up with the baby." Sakura glared at Ino for calling her that embarrassing nickname.

"Guys this is Shinachiku a mission the Fifth Hokage gave Naruto and me." Sighs of relief were heard all around the table.

"You had us for a minute I thought Naruto, and you had s-" before Kiba could even finish his sentence he was punched through the wall of the barbecue restaurant.

"Anyone else has something to say?" Her question was met with silence even from Shinachiku. "Good." Sakura and Naruto find two empty spots to sit around the large grill/table.

"Geez Forehead you didn't have to send him half way to Sunagakura." Sakura shrugged and engaged in a conversation with Tenten who wanted to play with the baby.

"He's so cute he'll break a lot of hearts when he grows up." Sakura chuckled and wholeheartedly agreed.

"Geez, Tenten you sound like some old lady." Tenten laughed along with Sakura noticing it too.

Meanwhile across the table with the guys only silence. The guys look from the child to Naruto who was grilling some barbecue. "Ok, I give why does that kid look so much like you two had sex and produced a child." To everyone's surprise, it was Neji who was brave enough to state the obvious.

"I'm pretty sure everyone noticed it was just too troublesome to point out." Sakura glared at both indifferent guys before passing Shinachiku to Tenten who cooed at the child.

"So Naruto you and Sakura aren't hiding anything are you. Like maybe knocking Sakura up in secret." Naruto choked on the barbecue that was in the process of going down his throat.

"Ino!" Sakura should have known that something like that would happen.

"N-Naruto-kun a-are y-you ok?" Naruto gulped down a whole glass of water before answering her.

"Yeah I'm fine Ino just surprised me is all." Naruto groaned coughing now and then.

"What can I say I couldn't resist."

"Rrrrright." Naruto sighed and looked across from him was Sakura shooting him a concerned look. Naruto smiled to relieve her worrying.

The two only stop staring at each other when they hear Shinachiku whine a little. "I-I t-think he's h-hungry," Hinata said shyly wanting to help the duo as much as possible. Sakura smiled at the Hyuga thankful for the help. It was as if the couple did it many times Naruto grabbed the bottle from the baby bag and tossed it to Sakura who effortlessly caught it. Once the bottle was in her hands, she put it out in front of him and lets his chubby fingers grasp it and drink it. The females there all awed at the cute sight before them.

"Who would abandon such a cute child?" Tenten wondered as the guys were just gaping at Naruto and Sakura's display.

"What?" Naruto asked squirming in his spot at all the eyes on him.

"What was that?" Asked Choji deciding to stop eating for a minute.

"Uh, I don't know I just went by my instincts." Naruto scratched the back of his head while nervously chuckling. Half way through the gathering everyone was finally comfortable around Naruto, Sakura, and Shinachiku and vice versa.

Shinachiku would often pull Neji's long hair if he got close to him. Tenten and Ino would gush over him every time he did something cute.

Despite being a baby, Shinachiku even tried to take some of Choji's food. Shino although he's quiet they soon found out he had a soft spot for babies. Shikamaru found the baby to be troublesome much to Sakura's displeasure.

Hinata it was hard to say how she felt about the baby. She treated him nicely even holding him at one point but deep down she wished to be assigned to the mission with Naruto. Kiba finally made it back grumbling curses towards the pinkette who in the end healed the Inuzuka. Kiba was also indifferent to Shinachiku ignoring the baby every chance he got. Until he started crying and mama bear Sakura was automatically on his ass sending him through another wall.

Lee continued crying but once they explained it to him for the 100th time he calmed down significantly now he was playing with the little guy even going as far as promising a green jumpsuit just for him. To which Naruto and Sakura both disagreed with that idea almost instantly.

"Shinachiku must have tired himself out," Ino murmured watching as the small blonde slept against Naruto.

"Well, I think it's time to head out I still need to stop by my parent's place." Ino gasped as a realization hit her that Sakura and Naruto were staying together. Ino decided she would question the two later not in front of everyone.

Naruto and Sakura said their goodbyes to their friends and were now on their way to Sakura's parent's place. "I'm going to sneak through the window you stay right here." Naruto nodded and watched as she walked up the side of her home.

He wasn't sure why Sakura wouldn't just tell her parents about the mission instead of sneaking around. Sakura went in through the balcony using her ninja skills she pulled out a suitcase and filled it with all of her necessity.

All she had to do now was get to the bathroom everyone shared to get her toothbrush, etc. as she fumbled around in the dark for her things a gasp from behind her and the switch of the bathroom light let her know she was caught. It was obviously an embarrassment to be caught even when she was a ninja.

"Sakura Haruno where have you been?" Sakura turned around slowly to find her angry mother with her hands on her hips.

"Shit."

 **A/N: Last update of 2015 even though this story just started I appreciate every review and story follow and favorite. I also realize I forgot to put in the disclaimer on the last two chapters whoops. But come on it's obvious I don't own Naruto, so I'll just put it at the end.**

 **Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Naruto**

 **Revised: 2-3-17**


	4. Mission: Rumor Problems

**Chapter 4:**

 **Mission: Rumor Problems**

 **Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto**

Mebuki couldn't believe that her own daughter tried to sneak into her own home without her knowing. She glared down at her pink haired daughter upset and disappointed with her. "Why don't you start by telling me where you've been?" Sakura quickly thought of a lie that was quite believable.

"Training." Mebuki nodded, but from the look on her face, she wasn't buying it.

"Why were you sneaking in?"

"I thought that you were asleep and didn't want to wake you by the way where's Otosan?" She inwardly smirked at how quick she was able to come up with that lie and divert the conversation.

"I see... why don't I make you some dinner while you wash up?" Her mother smiled down at her. She knew that smile all too well it meant that her mother was up to something mischievous.

Sakura not wanting to find out what she was up too quickly rushed upstairs to her room. She lifted the window and harshly whisper for Naruto. "Sakura-chan did you get everything?"

"Naruto take Shinachiku back to your place my kaasan is probably going to watch me like a hawk for the remainder of the night. I'll try to sneak out maybe at midnight. Naruto looked unsure he didn't want to go without her, but he had to respect her wishes.

"I know you can take care of Shinachiku just for tonight look he's already asleep so please just do this for me." Naruto thought for a moment and nodded internally promising her that he'll take care of Shinachiku.

"Alright, Sakura-chan." Naruto waved and slapped on a false grin before leaving with Shinachiku. Sakura sighed feeling relieved that she wasn't going to get caught just yet.

Sakura washed up and headed back downstairs. "Sakura I was thinking why don't you and I play some board games." Sakura stopped mid-step something was definitely up. She yawned loudly stretching a bit.

"I would kaasan, but I'm exhausted especially after all that training I did today."

"Oh, maybe tomorrow and your otosan will be able to join us." Mebuki glared dangerously at her making her uncomfortable in her own shoes.

"You know what I'm so tired I'm going to head to bed right now. Good night kaasan." She does a u-turn heading back up the stairs and quickly swung by the bathroom to grab her toothbrush and other essentials. Sighing Sakura plopped down on her bed keeping a secret from her mother was almost as hard as working at the hospital. Speaking of the hospital, she would have to talk to Tsunade about that since she was taking care of Shinachiku, and her main income came from the hospital. She doubted she would be able to work there while taking care of Shinachiku.

For the third time that night she sighed and waited patiently for her mother to fall asleep hopefully. She realized her mother didn't tell her where her dad was. Sakura shrugged it off then thought about Naruto and Shinachiku alone together.

She didn't count when they were alone while she was sleeping since Naruto could have easily woke her up if there was a problem. She worried a bit about how it was going back at his place she was probably just worrying for nothing Naruto was extremely charismatic.

Meanwhile, with Naruto, it was a disaster. He only had a moment of peace and quiet, and that was when they first arrived back at his apartment. Shinachiku wouldn't stop crying and as each minute went by he only got louder and louder. He would have to apologize to his neighbors in the morning. "Come on Shinachiku please stop crying."

He was all out of ideas on what to do he wasn't hungry diaper wasn't dirty, and Naruto was showing him more than enough attention. Naruto was down to his last option which was to entertain Shinachiku. Naruto put the squirming and crying baby in his crib and pulled out a stuffed toad. Naruto made ribbit sounds for the toad and went on and on with other stuffed animals.

Still, nothing worked. "I wish Sakura-chan was here." As if he said a magic word Shinachiku cries turned into sniffles and hiccups.

"I see you miss her too." Naruto picked up Shinachiku and soothingly rubbed his back while bouncing him a bit. Shinachiku sucked on his thumb looking up at him with big green orbs that reminded him of Sakuras.

"I'm sure that Sakura-chan will be able to sneak out and come over." Naruto smiled down at Shinachiku trying to ease the baby's worries. Naruto looked away for a minute and missed the red spark in Shinachiku's eyes.

"Let's get you to bed, or else Sakura-chan might kill me." Shinachiku just looked at Naruto with a blank stare not at all tired anymore. "You're not tired after all that crying?"

"I guess we can play a bit." Naruto sighed he was going to have to lose more sleep but if it was going to make Shinachiku sleepy then fine. They played well mostly the small blonde. It was about midnight and Naruto was on the floor asleep as Shinachiku watched the door closely while somewhat playing.

Slowly the door to the apartment opened then closed quietly. Shinachiku crawled to the pink haired woman excitedly. "What are you still doing up?" Sakura put her duffle bag on the floor and picked him up. She smiled when he cuddled up close to her. Unfortunately, her smile didn't last once she saw her blonde teammate asleep on the floor. On the other hand, he looked pretty cute laying there. _No, no bad thoughts._

"Let's see if we can find your pacifier." She looked around lifting toys and other objects she found it in his crib.

Sakura put it back in his mouth and went to wake up Naruto...with her foot. She gave him a few kicks, but he wasn't waking up at all. Sakura with a small amount of chakra kicked Naruto harder. Naruto groaned in pain, but nonetheless, he was awake.

"Baka why was Shinachiku still up?" Naruto rolled on his back to look up at Sakura with a tired expression.

"Sorry, Sakura-chan he missed you too much." Sakura looked down at the baby with a small smile on her face as she watched him sleep. "S-so did I." Her genuine expression changed to one of shock. She quickly recovered from the small surprise.

"I-I was only there for a f-few hours." She cursed herself for sounding like Hinata. Sakura walked to Shinachiku crib and set him down gently.

"We should head to bed I'll take the couch." Naruto immediately got in her path to the couch with such a fierce, determined glare.

"No can do Sakura-chan I'll take the couch you can take the bed," Sakura interjected quickly.

"It's your bed Naruto and your apartment I would never kick you out your own bed." Naruto just shook his head. He wasn't going to let his guest sleep on the couch especially Sakura.

"It's fine Sakura-chan sleep on the bed I won't mind really besides I won't take no for an answer." Sakura rolled her eyes the blonde was being impossible and stubborn as always.

"Fine." She reluctantly muttered back. She grabbed her bag and headed towards his room to probably change.

About an hour later Naruto laid on his back staring up at the ceiling. His thoughts wander to Sakura and Shinachiku he wasn't sure how he felt about Sakura and the baby staying at his place. Part of him was happy, and part of him was scared. Happy because well Sakura was staying under the same roof as him. Scared because it wasn't just Sakura staying with him but also Shinachiku, a real life baby.

He was terrified when Sakura had him take the baby home by himself without her. It was all new territory for them, and he feared that one day he'd mess up. Sighing lightly he turned on his side to face the crib Shinachiku rested in. He listened as he heard light sucking noises come from the baby.

He hoped that he could keep his worries to himself so Sakura wouldn't have to worry about him. She already had enough on her plate with the hospital and Shinachiku. He would probably have to talk to her about that in the morning, but for now, he just wanted to sleep.

x

A loud pounding came from the door to the apartment at about 7 o'clock in the morning. Naruto groaned upset at being woken up at such an ungodly time. "Wha- uh Haruno-San!" He said unbelievably loud to alert Sakura if she was awake because of the door. He saw a flash of pink out of the corner of his eye she put her finger over her lips as she escaped out of the window.

"Is my daughter here?" Naruto quickly shook his head at the furious woman. Now he knew where Sakura got her temper from. "Do you know where she could be?" He nodded slowly nervous even to speak and to make matters worse the baby started crying probably hungry or still tired and was rudely awakened.

"You have a baby?"

"Uh, it's a mission baa-chan gave u-me." He was going to send the woman off on her way, but unfortunately, she wanted to see the baby. Sweat rolled down his back as they walked closer to the crib. He hoped that she wouldn't see what everyone else saw when they looked at him, or he was going to be dead where he stood.

It was like being sent on his way to his death sentence. They finally reached the crying baby, and Mebuki automatically picked him up as if it was instinct to calm a crying baby. "What's this cute little guy name?"

Naruto chuckled nervously as he rubbed the back of his head. "Uh, Shinachiku."

Mebuki seemed to have calmed down and was now cooing at the child. Shinachiku's response was just to giggle forgetting all about whatever he was crying about. "He looks just like you except with no whiskers and...green...eyes." Her glare was right back on him putting him in a pit of lava.

"Do you happen to know this child's mother?" He quickly shook his head, not wanting to upset Sakura's mother. "You sure? Because I know how close you and my daughter are." Naruto was now pulling the collar of his shirt making himself look as guilty as possible. "And it's no secret how you feel about my daughter." Naruto was bewildered that the girl he had feelings for own mother knew about them.

"Shinachiku is just a mission the Hokage assigned me I know nothing else." Mebuki looked deeper into his eyes looking into his soul trying to detect a lie.

"Hmm well alright, then I'll have to find my daughter on my own." Mebuki handed Shinachiku back over to Naruto and left. Once the door shut behind her Sakura popped up coming in through his window. "Sorry to put that much pressure on you. It's just I can't have my parents know I'm raising a child with another guy. It'll be awkward."

Before he could reply a loud growl sounded in the room both of the teen's eyes went to the green-eyed baby. Shinachiku blinked then let out a loud cry to express his dissatisfaction with his caretakers. Sakura quickly found the baby food and rinsed off a spoon while Naruto put him in his high chair. Sakura opened the jar of mushed carrots and passed it to Naruto to feed him.

Sakura smiled brightly when Shinachiku quickly ate the carrots. He must have been famished. "What are we going to do today?"

"Avoid your mother. No offense but she's scary."

"Try living with her for your whole life." Naruto shuddered at the thought of it.

"I think I'm going to stop by The Hokage tower and talk to Shishou about my job." Naruto wiped Shinachiku's mouth while closely listening to Sakura make her plans.

"Yeah, it's been a while since I've had a mission an easy D-rank should do it since we need money to buy food for ourselves and Shinachiku." Sakura was gaping at Naruto for once seeing him thinking ahead.

"Are you sick?" Naruto smiled as Shinachiku reached out to him to be picked up. Naruto picked the baby up and turned to her confused but not showing it. "Uh no, I don't think so why?"

"For one, you hate doing D-rank missions, and you rarely think ahead." She said eyeing him closely making him extremely nervous.

"I stayed up and thought about some things..." Sakura wanted to push him for more but understood from the look he gave her that he didn't want to talk about it.

"So I guess once we're ready we'll go see Shishou." Sakura walked away to get ready for their day. It was strange that with the baby they were spending more and more time together than ever. Usually, she would be busy in the hospital while Naruto would be training with Kakashi or by himself. Naruto smirked fondly it was like going on a family outing.

Xxx

An hour pass since the duo fed Shinachiku and they were finally leaving the apartment. It took a while actually to get Shinachiku ready with him constantly squirming. "Why did I take this mission again? Oh yeah, I was forced to."

"Cheer up Sakura-chan Shinachiku is the best child ever." She stared blankly at the blonde who was carrying the baby but not with his hands.

"You look like an idiot wearing that baby carrier."

"Aww come on Sakura-chan I'm just trying to be a great caretaker." Sakura rolled her eyes and began walking away from her blonde teammate. "Wait up Sakura-chan."

It seemed that the rumor had spread like wildfire that Naruto knocked Sakura up in secret. They were whispering about them as if they weren't ninjas and couldn't hear them. Once the Hokage tower came into view, the two quickly rush there to avoid hearing any more of the rumors.

Sakura knocked on the Hokage door and once she heard an "enter" opened the door. Her Shishou smiled, but the smile soon turned into a frown when she caught sight of the baby she told Sakura never bring back to her. "Sakura I told you not to bring that child back here."

"Shishou-"

"Baa-chan! Shinachiku is a great kid." Tsunade rolled her eyes she caught a good sight of them standing side by side with Shinachiku. It was true they looked like a family, and that only fueled the rumors even more. She had to explain multiple times to the council that the baby wasn't Naruto's.

"Naruto and Sakura I'm glad you both are here. You two have probably heard all of the rumors on your way here. Unfortunately, the council has also heard them, and no matter how many times I tell them the actual story they won't listen without real proof." Sakura feared the worse was coming up next as her Shishou turned in her chair to not make eye contact with them.

"Shishou how are we going to give them proof that this isn't Naruto's baby."

"Not just Naruto but you too Sakura the council doesn't want Naruto in a relationship with anyone."

"They can't control my life just because of their petty fear of the Kyuubi." Naruto angrily clenched his fist. He glanced at Shinachiku and Sakura they became his life in just two days.

"They can, and they have. The council wants me to run some DNA tests on the three of you. They gave me a month to do it. Fortunately, we have nothing to worry about since we know the real story and know that Shinachiku won't match Naruto's DNA."

"And if he does...?" Tsunade looked at her student wondering why she would even think that. Maybe something did happen between the two. No Naruto would never be able to conceal such information.

"I just want to be prepared just in case something bad happens. So please tell me." Naruto looked at Sakura with shock she sounded sad but kept her eyes steady and hard.

"Naruto will be imprisoned the child will be under Danzo's tutelage and you I'm not sure perhaps also imprisoned for questioning or eliminated." The room was so silent you could hear a pin drop. She lowered her head unable to believe what she just heard. How could the council just decide what happens to their life just like that? Hell, the baby wasn't even theirs. Without realizing it, tears began leaking from her eyes. Her fist clenched as she shook with restrained anger.

She snapped out of her thoughts as she felt a hand grab her fist. It was Naruto's own. She tried to make eye contact with him, but he only stared Tsunade down. "How could you sit there and sound so calm despite the words you just said."

"I don't believe that child is yours." Naruto tightened his grip on her hand unknowingly perhaps afraid that if he let go, she'll end up imprisoned or worse dead.

"His name is Shinachiku." With that Naruto pulled Sakura by the hand and stormed out of the office.

Tsunade thought that the meeting would have gone smoother but was sadly disappointed. Originally she wasn't worried she thought that she could do the test and come up with no match. But throughout the exchange, she grew more and more worried that something bad was going to happen. Before she was willing to bet that the DNA test wouldn't work being the first to encounter the child. Now she was unsure and questioning everything.

Hopefully, everything would work out accordingly knowing her luck it never did.

X

Leaving the Hokage tower, the three went and got ice cream and ate it on top of the Hokage mountain. She held Shinachiku and shared her strawberry ice cream with him. The only noise was Shinachiku squeal of delight and Sakura's giggles at his reaction to the sweet treat. She looked over at Naruto and her smile immediately faded. She saw how depressed Naruto looked. He stared out at the village deep in thought.

"Don't blame yourself Naruto." Sakura looked up at him with pleading emerald eyes causing Naruto's features to soften automatically.

"I'm not it's just...why did the 4th have to seal the Kyuubi in me and ruin my life."

"Maybe he knew that you were the only person who could carry the burden. You're strong Naruto, and you never give up no matter what. Remember your nindo? Besides we've been friends for years you should know by now not to carry the weight of the world on your own shoulders you'll always have me and now Shinachiku." Naruto blushed as his eyes shined with unshed tears. For the second time that day they held each other's hand.

His fingers gently ran up and down her spine, coaxing shivers out of Sakura. With her cheeks blushing hotly, she glanced back up into his captivating blue eyes. He leaned down, resting his forehead against hers. Sakura watched breathlessly as his eyes studied hers with quiet intensity. His warm breath ghosted across her face. She watched him closely feeling up with anticipation.

With Naruto, it was something different entirely his orbs drifted from her orbs down to her lips as though he was savoring the moment. He licked his lips preparing his own to taste hers. As his lips brush across her cheek, he paused and softly inhaled the smell of her. "Sakura-chan." He whispered quietly.

He makes his way back to her mouth only an inch separating their lips. He watched with half-lidded eyes to see how she would feel if he kissed her. Luckily her eyes were already closed awaiting the kiss eagerly like him. They leaned in to seal the deal but—

"Ah ha, Sakura Haruno! I've heard the rumors, but you couldn't even tell your own mother..." Mebuki seemed to be interrupting a special moment between the two. Both of the teens had their lips puckered, and their eyes were as wide as dinner plates.

Sakura was the first to recover from the shock and immediately pushed Naruto away sporting a humongous blush. "K-kaasan what are you doing here?"

"To find my daughter but imagine my surprise finding her about to kiss her teammate. Not only that but a rumor about MY daughter having SEX with HIM and producing THAT!" Sakura sighed knowing she was caught red handed. She wished she had time to gather her thoughts, but from the look on her mother's face, she had enough.

"Alright kaasan have a seat I guess it's time I tell you the truth."

X

 **Is it hot in here or is it just that Narusaku scene? _*Fans self*_**

 **BTW a review is greatly appreciated.**

 **Originally I was going to make this chapter all about Sakura's parents, but I wanted to move the plot along. Also sorry for the wait I'm a busy person. Naruto doesn't know that the 4th Hokage is his father yet so the timeline would probably be before the Pein arc.**

 **Revised 2-4-17**


	5. Mission: Confrontation

**Chapter 5:**

 **Mission: Confrontation**

 **Disclaimer: I** **Don't own Naruto**

"And that's what's going on." She made sure to leave out the part that she found out today. Mebuki sighed in relief she feared that the rumors were right. Sakura leaving the house at early hours, even before she or Kizashi woke up only made matters worse.

"You could have just told me it was a mission Sakura we're close enough to be able to tell each other these things." Sakura looks down in shame honestly she didn't know why she didn't tell her mother the truth. "Well, now that that's behind us you and Shinachiku can move back in."

A silence hung over them, to be honest, she didn't want to leave Naruto all alone in his apartment. "Kaasan I was really hoping to stay at Naruto's it would be a hassle to move everything we got for Shinachiku." She has been of course just using excuses it wouldn't really be a hassle with the help of Naruto's clones

Mebuki was confused that Sakura didn't want to come home, she found it odd. Then the realization hit her, she did walk in on them about to kiss. "Oh, I see," Mebuki says grinning mischievously. She stands up wiping away the nonexistent dirt from her pants. "You're Otosan won't be happy. But as long as you two don't do anything r rated I'm fine with it. Just visit sometimes and bring that cutie with you." Mebuki waves goodbye to the group before descending down the stairs from the Hokage mountain.

An awkward silence hung over the two as what they were about to do before being interrupted ran through their head. "Uh I'm going to go Shinachiku made a mess and I don't want this stuff sticking."

"R-right." He watched her leave, but all he could think about was that she willingly stayed with him at his small apartment. Admittedly it got lonely there over the years which was why he didn't stay there much only to sleep and sometimes eat.

He smiled and look down at the lively village he hoped to be the leader of one day. Naruto's happy thoughts soon disappear as he thought about the conversation he, Sakura, and Baa-chan had. There was no way that Shinachiku was his and Sakura's child so, then why was he so worried?

The council hated him ever since he was born, but taking away his freedom to be in a relationship crossed the line. Sighing he decides to get up and head back home to check up on Sakura and Shinachiku. The last time he gave Shinachiku a bath, he also had a bath and water all over the place. But with Sakura's temper, he feared for the small child's life.

As he walked through the village with the image of Sakura soaked while Shinachiku laughing at her he chuckled softly. He wasn't even watching where he was going to busy lost in his thoughts that he ran right into somebody. He crashed right into the Hyuga heiress who was out and about with Tenten.

"Gomen Hinata." Naruto holds out a hand and Hinata shakily takes it with a blush adorning her face.

"Geez Naruto lost in your thoughts?" Naruto laughs off Tenten's question.

"Where's Shinachiku and Sakura?" Naruto was about to say at his house, but then realized that would only cause more questions and the last thing they needed were more rumors. Thinking quickly, he comes up with a good excuse.

"They're at the baby store." Hinata looks up at him she silently wondered why he was lying to them. She could tell by the way his eyes shifted somewhere else other than Tenten.

"Oh well, then I guess we're heading there then." Naruto was panicking, he knew they weren't there, but they didn't or so he thought.

"A-actually Tenten-san I think we should head to the training fields." Tenten lifted an eyebrow the only reason why they asked Naruto where Sakura was because they wanted to see Shinachiku.

"Alright, Hinata. See ya later Naruto." As Tenten started walking away Hinata hung back.

"I-I'm sure y-you have y-your reasons f-for lying. See you later N-Naruto-kun." Hinata jogs to catch up with Tenten leaving a guilty Naruto behind.

As soon as Naruto walked into his apartment, he heard a loud groan come from the bathroom. Slowly he walked towards the bathroom the scene that greeted him was truly a wonderful sight. As he imagined Sakura was soaked while Shinachiku laughed at her. She couldn't keep her angry expression for long and soon she was also laughing. She hugs the wet baby getting her more wet. "What am I going to do with you, Shina?"

"I guess I missed out on the fun." Sakura snaps her head to the doorway where Naruto stood. Shinachiku reaches out to Naruto with a big toothy grin on his face. Sakura wraps Shinachiku in a towel and hands him off to Naruto. Sakura then shoos him out of the bathroom so she could change out of her soaked clothes thanks to Shinachiku.

Naruto looked at the closed door sadly it seemed like Sakura was avoiding him ever since the almost kiss. "Hopefully, she'll come around." Shinachiku looks from the door to his other caretaker. "Let's get you in some clothes."

 **X**

Naruto half watched as Shinachiku played with his toys and half watched the door to his room. After she changed out of her wet clothes she went back into his room. He didn't want their relationship to be strained because of his stupid mistake.

Naruto sighed and laid out on the couch he was honestly tired. Finally, the door to his room opens and he quickly sits up. "I'm going to go see Ino." Naruto watched her say goodbye to Shinachiku, but she never said it to him. He wanted to stop her and work out the tension between each other. He wore his false grin until the door closes behind her.

He never thought he'd see the day where he envies a child. Shinachiku received more attention from her than he ever did. Naruto angrily stands up and picks Shinachiku up along with his baby bag. Staying cooped up in his apartment wasn't going to clear his mind the only thing that could was training. "Let's go Shinachiku we're going to the training grounds.

Naruto arrived at the training grounds, finding just the person he was looking for. "Kaka-sensei!" Said gray-haired Sensei looks down from his spot up in a tree reading his favorite book.

Kakashi only visible eye looks at the baby in Naruto's hands and then Naruto himself. "Naruto and-"

"This is Shinachiku he's a mission Baa-chan gave me and Sakura-chan." Kakashi jumps down from the tree branch to observe the baby closer. That seemed to be a mistake, since the curious baby grabs hold of his mask. It was a good thing he always wore two for precaution.

As Kakashi removed the child's grip his hands, then grabbed his gravity defying hair. Kakashi just glared down at his student for bringing the child anywhere near him. (Despite it being his fault for leaning in so close)

"Uh sorry about that Kaka-sensei he doesn't usually do that." Naruto pulled the giggling child away from Kakashi pulling a few strands of gray hair with him. The only sign he got that Kakashi felt the pain was the twitch of his visible eyes.

"So how about a spar?" Naruto chuckled nervously hoping that his request for a spar wouldn't be denied because of Shinachiku.

Kakashi narrows his eye, causing Naruto to squirm where he stood. "Sure."

Long story short Shinachiku watched as his caretaker got his ass handed to him. It was a good thing that he healed quickly just not quick enough. Naruto made 3 shadow clones one to carry Shinachiku and two to carry him.

 **X**

Arriving at the apartment Shinachiku was asleep and luckily for Naruto, Sakura was not there. He wasn't planning on visiting the afterworld just yet. The clone carrying Shinachiku sets him in the crib, then poofed out of existence same as his other two clones who poofed when they set him on the couch.

He was hoping to get some rest, but luck was just not on his side today because standing in front of him was Sakura. He didn't even hear her or maybe it was just because of the blood lost.

"You're such a Baka." That was all she said to him as she walked over and sat beside him to heal his wounds. "Not only did you take a baby to a spar but you also got so injured you could hardly stand up." She wanted to hit him upside the head, but that would do more harm than good.

"I leave for one minute and you already get yourself into trouble. Maybe I'm asking you for too much." Naruto listened as she reprimanded him, her words were nothing unusual until the last thing she said. "I just wish you were more responsible Naruto. What if Shinachiku got hurt could you really live with yourself knowing it was your fa-"

"Stop. Nothing happened Shinachiku is safe and I'm fine now." To prove his point Naruto gets up and does a few stretches. Try as he might he couldn't wear a good enough grin to hide how upset he was.

"Yeah but what if he wasn't? This isn't just some ordinary mission Naruto like protecting a princess or something it's a baby who can't do anything for himself. You're not getting the big picture you don't take a baby to the training grounds!" She snaps angrily that the blonde was being so carefree.

"I probably wouldn't have if you stopped avoiding me every chance you get. We're in this together, so start acting like it." She was taken aback by his hostile tone never had Naruto ever actually snapped at her before.

"You think I'm avoiding you?" She says shockingly not believing what she just heard. It was true, but she didn't want Naruto to know that. In fact, she was only avoiding him so things wouldn't get awkward between them.

"You always run from things you can't figure out and this is no different." She gets up sharply getting in his face her own red with anger. "I'm leaving!" Naruto's hard look crumbles as he watches her put her shoes on. He was not expecting those words honestly; he didn't know what he expected after accusing her of being a coward of confrontation.

"Wha-what about Shin-" before he could even finish the door slam behind her waking up the sleeping baby. A loud cry broke through his disarrayed thoughts snapping him back to reality.

Naruto goes into the kitchen to get a bottle for Shinachiku and on the counter was some Ichiraku ramen. Naruto was filled with regret and knew he had to apologize to Sakura. Making a shadow clone to watch over Shinachiku he quickly stumbles into his shoes and went chasing after Sakura.

 _I'm sorry Sakura-chan._

 **X**

Sakura didn't actually go and see Ino earlier, she went to Ichiraku to get them some lunch. Sakura walked far enough away to relax. Her heart ached as she finally looked around at her surroundings, it was where Sasuke left her when they were Genin.

Sitting down on the concrete bench, she put her head in her hands. She wasn't sure why she left that only proved Naruto's words to be true. She's afraid to move forward. A part of her heart belongs to Sasuke and she unknowingly gave Naruto a part also. Now she's stuck in the middle of who should have her whole heart.

Someone who she loved since childhood or someone who was always there for her. When she thought about it the answer seemed so simple but it wasn't. It was a battle between her mind and her heart.

"Sakura-chan..." Sakura looks up, startled out of her thoughts. She didn't think he would come looking for her.

"Who's looking after Shina-"

"My clone." She wasn't sure if that was supposed to make her feel relieved or more worried. Without her permission Naruto sits beside her on the bench.

"Why did you come after me? Rub in that you're right." Sakura hoped she was wrong or else a chakra powered fist to the face.

"I saw the ramen." He grinned brightly as if they didn't just have a fight. That was one of the things she admired about Naruto. He was able to brighten up almost anyone's day especially her own. "And I wanted to apologize. I was wrong about you running away from your problems. I guess I was just tired of waiting for you to address what we almost did."

Sakura stands up suddenly, her head bowed and hair concealing her facial expression. "Naruto..." When she finally looked at him with those forest green eyes, he adored so much he saw hurt and internal conflict in them. He was having a hard time understanding what made her so unhappy at that moment.

"C-can we just forget about it?" Naruto was in a stupor; he didn't want to forget he waited years for a sign that their relationship could go beyond just friends. That was his moment where he can finally confess how he feel Sasuke be damned.

He unknowingly clenched his fist, unable to even look his crush in the eyes nonetheless come up with an answer to her preposterous question. "Why?" He found his lips moving on their own without his permission.

"I'm just not ready to confront how I... feel. Besides, I don't want to ruin what we have." Sakura smiles at him. It was a familiar smile that he rarely sees, but it still stopped his heart.

With just one smile she could make him take out the remaining Akatsuki members single-handedly. Sighing in defeat, he stands up also with a false grin plastered on his face. "Alright, Sakura-chan consider it forgotten."

Sakura blows out an air of relief as if she was holding it in waiting for what she wanted to hear. She just hoped she wouldn't regret her decision later.

The two walk side by side a gap between them that didn't use to be there.

The silence between the two was a bit awkward as they walked back to Naruto's apartment. It wasn't that far a walk, maybe about a couple blocks. On their way, they passed the park that they remembered going to when they were kids. They both had painful memories and good memories of the park.

It was where Sakura used to get bullied at because of her forehead and it's also where she met Ino. Naruto remembered how the kids wouldn't play with him because their parents said so. The only people who did was Shikamaru, Choji, and sometimes Kiba.

"We should take Shinachiku here one day," Naruto smiles and nods in agreement.

Naruto felt a disturbance in the air and not even a minute later the memories of his clone return to him. "Naruto are you ok?" She noticed the blonde suddenly stop walking his face looked panicked also.

"Something must have hit my clone. Come on Sakura-chan Shinachiku could be in trouble." Sakura nods and they both take to the roof to reach his apartment faster. Sakura hoped that Shinachiku was alright, she would never forgive herself if the baby wasn't ok. She glances over at Naruto who was focused on getting to the destination as soon as possible. She could only imagine how he would feel if something bad happened to Shinachiku on his watch.

Finally, the two arrive at the complex and immediately bust through the door. both were in fighting stances prepared to take down whoever dared try to take Shinachiku. "He looks like you both." A hooded figure stood over the crib where Shinachiku was looking up at the stranger.

"When I received the news I almost didn't believe it. I had to see for myself." Sakura squinted, trying to see who was the person standing over their charge.

"Who the hell are you?" Naruto shouted uneasiness settling in his gut. They had to get him away from Shinachiku before attacking full on.

"An old friend." The person picks up the child and turns around slowly revealing himself to them.

 **X**

 **I really appreciate the reviews I've received they really brighten my day. I wasn't planning on updating so fast, but I was feeling so motivated I had to do it. So keep them reviews coming.**

 **And before I forget happy early Narusaku day XD.**


	6. Mission: Heaven and Earth

**Chapter 6:**

 **Mission: Heaven and Earth**

 **Disclaimer: I Don't own Naruto**

"Who the hell are you?" Naruto shouted uneasiness settling in his gut. They had to get him away from Shinachiku before attacking full on.

"An old friend." The person picks up the child and turns around slowly revealing himself to them.

"Kabuto?!" Naruto found himself clenching his teeth in utter annoyance. Never in a million years did he think that Kabuto would be in his apartment holding his charge.

"What are you doing here?" Sakura couldn't believe it either Orochimaru's lap dog had his dirty hands on such a pure child. She was very upset at the sight of it. They couldn't attack Kabuto since he was holding the child in his arms.

"I've come to check out the child between you two." Naruto was going to tell him the truth but was quieted by an elbow to the gut.

"This child created by you two a perfect balance of Heaven and Earth. This child will grow to have Sakura-san's intelligence/chakra control and Naruto-san's strength/vast amount of chakra a balanced child." The way the light from the open door reflected on Kabuto's glasses caused shivers to go down their spine.

"But he's just a child." Kabuto's smirk widens into a smile.

"Exactly you see Sasuke-san is both Heaven and Earth combined also but imagine if we were able to teach Sasuke-san when he was just a baby. A perfect soldier." Naruto anger flared up that Kabuto was thinking about making Shinachiku into a cold blooded killer.

"I won't let that happen."

"Noted but Naruto-san do you think your own village won't do the same thing?" Sakura stood in silence calculating the best way to get Shinachiku away from Kabuto. But what he said next made her lose her thought completely.

"Prepare yourself Naruto-san Orochimaru-sama wants to start the experiments early."

"Experiments early? Did you do something to Shinachiku?" Kabuto shifts his attention to Sakura with an amused expression as if something was funny.

"Maybe maybe not." She growled angrily she didn't know what that even meant. Kabuto sets the child back in his crib before turning his attention back to them.

"Enjoy the rest of your day." Naruto threw a kunai but Kabuto was already gone in a blink of an eye. Sakura runs to check up on Shinachiku who was busy sucking his thumb sleepily.

She sighs in relief that he seemed fine, but to take extra precaution she ran a diagnosis with her chakra. Finding nothing, she picked Shinachiku up quickly and hugged him tightly. "I'm so glad you're ok Shina."

Shinachiku just lets out an adorable yawn, his childish mind did not realize what happened. Naruto also felt relieved and knew that they would have to report this to Tsunade. "Sakura-chan we should report this to baa-chan." Sakura nods and pretty soon the two were taking a faster way there via the rooftops.

"I was hoping to not see baa-chan so soon but I guess it can't be avoided."

"I know what you mean it feels like everything is happening so quickly and we just received horrible news from Shishou." She was also dreading seeing the 5th Hokage. It was almost like she didn't care what would happen to them if the test was positive. She knew for a fact that she didn't do anything with Naruto.

The familiar building came into view and to save time they went through the open window. Tsunade was startled from her paperwork at the sight of the trio. She wasn't expecting them to see her anytime soon, they also seemed to be in a rush. "Naruto Sakura what brings you two back?"

"KabutowashereandhesaidsomethingaboutdoingexperimentsonShina." Naruto says without any breaths in between each word causing his words to sound jumbled together. Sakura and Tsunade exchange confused looks before Sakura decides to clear things up.

"Uh, what he's trying to say is that we had a run in with Kabuto and he and Orochimaru seemed really interested in Shinachiku." Tsunade cursed under her breath she would have to have a chat with Kotetsu and Izuma. Then again that's what she gets for having two Chunin's guarding the entrance.

"What else did he say? Give me the details." Tsunade snapped, she wanted to get her ANBU on the case quickly.

"For one, he thinks that Shinachiku is ours and he believes that he's Heaven and Earth combined. He talked about the village and Orochimaru making him into a perfect soldier." She sat in silence taking in Sakura's explanation. She was aware that they had to run the DNA test sooner rather than later.

"I want you two to come back tomorrow. We'll see if Shinachiku is actually yours." After dismissing them, she calls in a squad of ANBU.

"Team 1 your mission is to check around the village for any sign of Kabuto. Team 2 mission is to check the forest for any signs of him or anyone else. Dismissed." The ANBU disappear before her very eyes, but it didn't startle her she was used to it. For now, she'll keep everything to herself there was no need to involve the council.

"I want the child..." Tsunade snaps her head to a dark shadow in the room and out comes Danzo with two of his loyal agents. She was angry that the bastard was eavesdropping on her conversation.

"What the hell are you doing in my office?" He didn't answer her, not that she expected him to.

"I would never allow you to have the kid." Danzo still had that blank stare as he walked closer to her desk. "I'm not asking Tsunade. When the council finds out they'll gladly put the child under my tutelage."

"I can't do that Naruto and Sakura take perfect care of the baby all you will do is make him into an emotionless killer." This time, Danzo cracks a smile, albeit it was extremely small.

"Orochimaru obviously sees something in the child and those two are not enough to stop him from getting what he wants." Tsunade knew the two better than Danzo ever could and they would protect Shinachiku with their life.

"Tell the council all you want, but I refuse to give you an innocent child it'd be just like giving him to Orochimaru you're no better." A silence hung over them for at least a minute before Danzo finally spoke.

"Very well Tsunade if that's how you feel, I guess I'll have to find some other means of getting the child." Danzo turns to leave but pauses when he could sense something more having to be said.

"Let's keep this between us...for now." With that, he leaves the room along with his two bodyguards. Tsunade sighs, relieved that the awful man was out of her presence. The last thing she needed to deal with was Danzo's persistence in taking Shinachiku. Hopefully, the DNA test tomorrow would clear up all misunderstandings.

 **X**

Naruto woke up the next morning with big red eyes staring back at him. Thinking he wasn't seeing right rubbed his eyes and now greens were looking at him.

Shinachiku was wide awake and waiting for him to also wake up. For some reason, it was a hassle to get him to fall asleep last night.

Shinachiku had way too much energy for a baby. He must be bored with just staring at Naruto the whole time while he slept. Naruto looks at the clock on the wall and saw it read 7 o'clock in the morning much to his annoyance. The time he usually wakes up was about 12 in the afternoon.

The younger blonde seeing his caretaker not getting up to let him out begins to cry. Naruto quickly rolls off of the couch falling face first on the floor. He stands up, rubbing his face while grumbling curse words under his breath.

Naruto picks up the blonde who instantly stopped crying once being free from the crib. Naruto eyes Shinachiku suspiciously. It was probably just an act and he got played by a baby. "Geez you're a sneaky brat aren't you." He couldn't stay mad at him for long since Shina gave him the cutest face expression ever.

"Let's fix you some food." As soon as he said that both of their stomachs growled loudly. The two laugh at the timing of their stomachs. Suddenly an exhausted pinkette walks out of her momentary room. Sakura yawns not at all realizing two pairs of eyes were on her.

"Good morning Sakura-chan." Naruto says while Shinachiku just waves his greeting still unable to talk. Sakura paused, finally noticing the pair.

"Morning, both of you." They both walk into the kitchen and Naruto sets Shinachiku in his high chair.

"What do you want to eat?" Sakura thinks for a moment and settles on, "anything but ramen."

"Ramen is the best Sakura-chan and if Shinachiku could speak, he would agree." Sakura chuckles she highly doubts that the baby would like ramen every day. Her lighthearted mood fades as a thought enters her mind.

If they never found Shinachiku's parents then they would miss out on their child's life. She finally understood. Naruto wanted to prevent what happened to him from happening to Shinachiku. "Sakura-chan!" Sakura jumps startled out of her thoughts.

"Wha-what?" She blushes from embarrassment.

"I called your name about 5 times are you ok?" She quickly nods brushing his question off completely. She could feel the blond looking at her pointedly. "Ok well, I asked you, do you want steamed rice, miso soup, and tamagoyaki?"

She was a bit skeptical about eating whatever he cooked. She didn't know if he could cook or not. Not that she could either simple dishes like rice she could do but not tamagoyaki. "Can you even cook?" The only answer she got was a shrug. A SHRUG she couldn't believe it.

"Relax Sakura-chan it's my first time cooking for other people, but I think I cook alright." She really didn't like what he just told her. They were going on his taste buds on whether the food tastes good or not. Yep, they're doomed.

She watches him closely while preparing Shinachiku's breakfast. The last thing they needed was the place being burned down. She decided instead of giving Shinachiku some mushed fruit she would give him oatmeal mixed with yogurt and dry cereal. It was a good thing they paid attention to everything the old lady told them or else they'd be lost.

Shinachiku watched as the two teens worked around each other in the small kitchen. It didn't take long before all the food was done being prepared. While Sakura was feeding Shinachiku Naruto sets her plate of food in front of her.

"If I get food poisoning from this I'll never forgive you." Naruto nervously coughs silently praying the food was good. He watches as she tried all of it and waited for a reaction. "Hmm, better than I expected and wayyy better than what I could ever make." Naruto breaths out a breath of relief no longer feeling the weight of her judgment on his shoulders. Shinachiku meanwhile, was trying to pick the spoon up on his own, but was failing and ended up dropping it on the floor.

"Geez Shinachiku you're very hungry aren't you." Before she could even get up Naruto was already getting another spoon. She thanks him and continues to feed Shinachiku while also feeding herself.

The trio definitely looked like a family gathered around for a meal. For once it wasn't awkward, but it felt natural.

 **X**

They had some time to spare before finding out the moment of truth. As much as they tried to be happy the nervousness was clawing at them both. "Hey, Sakura-chan want to play with us?" The two were on the floor playing with building blocks. She found it cute that the two were getting along great.

"Sure why not." Everything was going great until Shinachiku learned something else he could do with the blocks. Throwing them.

After getting hit by one she brushed it off, but after a couple times, she snapped. "Shinachiku these are not for throwing!" The silence after her outburst made her yelling that much worse. But she would have preferred the silence over Shinachiku's crying any day.

Naruto picks up the crying child and tried to calm him down, but it was in vain. She looked on sadly feeling bad for making him cry, but he had to be reprimanded from what she read. "Naruto I'll try to calm him down can you pick up these blocks." Naruto gladly hands her the child and picks up the scattered blocks. He wasn't expecting Sakura to snap at Shina suddenly, but he understood that it had to be done.

"Come on Shina you know I didn't mean to yell, I'm just tired is all." Naruto stops picking up blocks to observe Sakura and Shina. Sakura sighs when his cries wouldn't let up. The next best course of action was to let him just cry it out.

So she flops down on the couch and lets Shinachiku cry in her arms. Naruto abandons the blocks to go sit beside her. "I feel bad."

"I know." Sakura rests her head on his shoulder for much-needed comfort.

 **X**

Tsunade pace back and forth waiting as patiently as possible for the trio to arrive. They were an hour late and she feared something bad has happened to them. She was on the edge of her seat ever since her talk with Danzo.

She was tempted to send a team of ANBU to find them but that was overkill. Sighing she decides to go find them herself. The most obvious place was Naruto's place so she heads off in that direction. She took to the roofs to avoid anyone interrupting her from her goal. She arrived in a matter of seconds something in the window catches her eye.

The three were asleep Sakura's head was on Naruto's shoulder and Naruto had an arm around her while Shinachiku was snuggled up in Sakura's arms. She could only smile fondly at the sight of the makeshift family. Tsunade would often think about what it would be like to have a family, but she was far too old for that stuff now. Besides, she had a family already right in front of her.

Tsunade turns away from the window and heads off to her office before Shizune come looking for her. She hoped for the best in the future for the three.

 **X**

 **Originally I was going to post weekly, but then the chapter was far too short for my liking so I added more. Some fluff here and family problems there and shazam a boring chapter where nothing happened well in my opinion.**

 **Anyway, I know a lot of people thought it was Sasuke, but I'm not putting him in until maybe later depends on the way the story is going. Also, I read some interesting theories on where Shina came from and what he is.**

 **Keep up the reviews I swear I was grinning from ear to ear at them in class. People thought I was weird or something.**

 **Next chapter is finally the DNA test so prepare. (Hopefully shorter A/N)**


	7. Mission: DNA Results

**Chapter 7:**

 **Mission: DNA Results**

 **Disclaimer: I Don't own Naruto.**

Sakura woke up to silence and the smell of ramen. Sakura looks up and saw what was causing the smell of ramen to take over her sense of smell. Naruto was asleep and she noticed that his arm was wrapped around her. When did that happen she wasn't quite sure but a warmth filled her. Then her eyes go to the baby still in her arms clutching her shirt.

She saw out of the window that the sun was going to set soon. That's when it hit her that they missed their appointment with Taunade. "Naruto wake up!"

"Five more minutes Sakura-chan..." Sakura angrily gets up and yells louder in his ear causing him to suddenly wake up.

"We fell asleep! Shishou is going to kill us!" Sakura panics while a sleepy Shinachiku was waking up.

"Well, why don't we see her now?" Suddenly Sakura stops panicking realizing he was actually right. She clears her throat in an attempt to cover her embarrassment.

"Let's do that then." Sakura knew that they were probably going to be reprimanded for being hours late.

Naruto yawns and stands up from his spot on the couch. Naruto looks at the baby in her arms who was trying to go back asleep. "Here you can hold him I have to change shirts since Shina drooled all over this one." Naruto chuckles and gets the baby from her arms.

It didn't take her long to change her shirt and soon they were on their way to the Hokage tower. The sun was going down steadily as they walked in silence.

Sakura yawns loudly still feeling a bit tired despite sleeping most of the day away. "It's going to be a bitch getting Shinachiku back to sleep when he wakes up." Sakura laughs agreeing wholeheartedly knowing it was going to be another all-nighter.

"I can see it now getting absolutely no sleep." They both inwardly sigh at the thought of getting no sleep. Soon the Hokage tower appears in their sights.

They entered the tower and head up the stairs until they reach the Hokage's door. Sakura with the encouragement from Naruto works up the nerve to knock on the door that was until it opens. Tsunade stood before them with a fine blonde eyebrow lifted up.

"Shishou I'm so sorry we're late we were up al-" Tsunade holds up a hand silencing the talking pinkette. Instead of speaking she just side steps them heading off to god knows where.

"You two coming or what?" Naruto and Sakura exchange relieved glances before speeding up to follow the older woman. "I thought you two were going to stand in front of my door forever if I didn't do anything."

Sakura nervously chuckles as she blushed from embarrassment. "You knew we were there baa-chan?"

A vein on her temple suddenly became much more noticeable as she filled up with rage. "Naruto don't call her that," Sakura says as she hits him upside the head.

"Sorry Sakura-chan." Naruto moans while rubbing the spot where she left a bump at.

"Now that you two are done having your lovers quarrel let's get down to business." Sakura was about to object until she saw the serious look on Tsunade's face.

"Let's get this DNA test over with."

.x.

The small group arrives at the hospital in no time and were immediately guided to a hospital room. Tsunade orders them to take a seat as she gets the tools she'll need.

While waiting the blonde kept shifting his weight more than likely nervous. "Uh, Sakura-chan quick question."

"Shoot." she says nonchalantly.

"This DNA thing will Ba-" he Corrects himself when he notices her glare directed towards him. "I mean Tsu-Tsunade-sama need to take my blood?"

A few seconds pass after his curious question what he didn't expect was sudden laughter coming from beside him. "Naruto Uzumaki scared of needles? You've risked your life so many times you've gone up against so many enemies and you're scared of a little needle."

Naruto grumbles feeling his cheeks flare up with color from embarrassment. It took longer than he would have liked for Sakura to recompose herself.

"To answer your question baka no Shishou won't need our blood but she will need Shinachikus' since she doesn't have his on file. All she will need to do is get a cheek swab." Seeing him still look a bit confused she goes more in depth.

"A DNA swab test is a quick and painless procedure that involves rubbing a cotton-like swab against the inside of your cheek." He sighs in relief but felt another question needed to be asked.

"But isn't using blood for a DNA test much more effective and accurate?" Sakura smiles at how curious and interested Naruto seemed in all of this. She thought he wouldn't be interested in knowing how certain things went in the medical field.

Nonetheless, she answers him, "most people who don't know much about DNA tests think that blood is more accurate but it's not. DNA is the same despite the method of collection." She points to her cheek before continuing her explanation. "Cheek cells yield the same accuracy of results as a blood sample."

She blushes when the look of awe on Naruto's face was directed towards her. "Wow, Sakura-chan you know a lot about this stuff."

Sakura grinned softly while her thoughts were running rampant. The way he always acknowledges her strength made her realize how much he cared about growth. "I'd be ashamed if she didn't." Once again the blonde woman snuck up on them surprising the two.

Tsunade walks back in with the swabs and a syringe. "Alright let's do the syringe first while the bra-"

"Shinachiku!" Naruto shouts interrupting the blonde. Sakura didn't know whether to reprimand him for interrupting her or just let it go.

"While _Shinachiku_ is still sleeping." Tsunade glared dangerously at the now satisfied blonde brat.

"Won't that wake him up crying?"

She shrugs, "only one way to find out." Naruto cringe when she inserts the syringe in Shinachiku arm. Although it was a smaller needle then he has ever seen he still found himself afraid.

To their surprise, it was an easy task Shinachiku didn't even move an inch. "Does that answer your question Sakura." She nods looking at the baby who was still asleep in Naruto's arms. Sakura puts the bandage over where the needle went into his arms.

"Now open your mouth." Sakura does as told while she takes the cotton swab and brings it inside of Sakura's cheek. Tsunade then gently rub and rotate the swab along the inside of the cheek for at least 5 to 10 seconds. It's important the entire swab tip has made contact with the cheek. Once finish she place the swab into a dry transport tube and label it then seal it. She repeats the process with Naruto and Shinachiku before instructing them to go get something to eat or something.

"But what about the results?"

Tsunade waves him off. "The results won't be ready until tomorrow so come back then." They accept her reply and leaves. She looks down at the key to their future.

She picked up the three samples and was off to the lab where she'll probably spend the rest of the night at. She wouldn't call Shizune to help she only wanted herself to get to the bottom of things.

She had a terrible feeling about what's to come and her superstition has never been wrong. When she got back from finding Naruto and Sakura cuddled together on a couch she found out she won some ryo from a lottery ticket she purchased yesterday.

 _Alright, enough of all this inner rambling I have a job to do._ With determined brown eyes, she opens the lab door and immediately got to work.

.x.

Naruto and Sakura both walked with no destination in mind. Neither was ready to go back to Naruto's apartment just yet. They seemed to be just lost in their thoughts.

"What are you thinking baka?" He didn't seem to hear her until she made him stop walking. "Oi! I said what are you thinking?" She says eyeing him closely.

"N-N-Nothing Sakura-chan." Naruto stuttered out, his cheeks turning pink at their close proximity. Sakura must have gotten close to him when she was eyeing him.

"Liar." Sakura backs up and crosses her arms looking up at him expectingly.

"S-Sakura-chan I'm not lying." She rolls her eyes as if the blonde could get anything past her. They're best friends it would be a shame if she didn't know when he was lying or not.

"Naruto," Sakura growls warning the blonde to tell the truth.

He sighs in defeat and gathers his thoughts. "I'm just worried about Shinachiku and you." He wanted to, of course, say much more but didn't want to make things more complicated.

"I can protect myself Naruto and we'll protect Shinachiku together don't worry so much that's not who you are." Naruto then tenses up when she grabs the wrist that wasn't holding Shinachiku and drags him to wherever.

"Now that that's settled let's go to Ichiraku."

Before he could stop himself words came out of his mouth. "Like a date?" He was mentally kicking himself _Sakura's not interested so stop thinking she ever will be._

"Only if you're paying." Least to say Naruto was stunned the whole walk to his favorite restaurant with one of his favorite person.

"S-Sakura-chan..." She stops when out the corner of her eye she saw his conflicted expression. Maybe she went to far with her picking she wasn't sure.

"What's wrong Naruto?"

"It's nothing I just can't wait to order a miso ramen." He grinned brightly before leading the way to the small restaurant. She could tell from a mile away that his smile was as real as Kakashi-sensei being on time.

Instead of confronting him about his false smile she leaves it be for now. Arriving at Ichiraku they were surprised to find team 10 eating there. The first one to notice them was the only female on the team. "Look who decided to show up." That got the rest of her teammate's attention directed towards them

"And just like that, I lost my appetite." Sakura groans while Naruto snickers at her joke. An infuriated blonde gets up from her seat to walk closer that was until she noticed the sleeping blonde in Naruto's arms.

Ino's anger disappear as she openly gushes at the awakening small child. _Bipolar much?_ Sakura thought to herself with a sweat-drop.

"Let's get something to eat Naruto." They walk by the platinum blonde who glared openly at the duo.

"Troublesome." Shikamaru goes back to dozing off while Choji eat his full.

Throughout the meal, Ino and Sakura constantly bickered over petty things. Ino wanted to hold Shinachiku but Sakura wouldn't let her for whatever reason.

"Please pig Shinachiku doesn't want to be held by you." Sakura crosses her arms turning back to her bowl of ramen.

"Worried that he'll like me better than you forehead." Sakura scoffs waving her statement off when in reality that's exactly what she worried about. "Fine you can hold him." Once receiving the OK from Sakura he passes Shinachiku to Ino gently.

Ino happily held the baby that was until he grabbed a fist full of her blonde ponytail and pulled. "Oww!" Sakura watched the whole exchange and laughed loudly at the display.

"Hey lazy ass help get this brat off my hair!" Even the owners laugh when all Shikamaru did was yawn at her misfortune.

"Uh, Sorry Ino he's starting to develop a habit of pulling on people's hair. Kakashi-sensei wasn't to thrilled losing a few strands of hair. I think I even saw a bald spot." Like a meter, Ino's panicking levels went through the roofs causing Sakura to lose what little composure she had left.

.x.

It was late at night and Naruto has yet to fall asleep. He played his day over and over it started off decent then got bad then got better. To wrap up his day it was an amazing day spent mostly cuddled up on the couch with Sakura.

Then why was he still unable to fall asleep. He bemusedly thought it was probably the hard couch he was supposed to be sleeping on. He made a mental note that he would buy a new couch later on.

His eyes wander from the ceiling to the now open door to his room. Out comes Sakura who was quietly walking to Shinachiku's crib. "Couldn't sleep?" Sakura jumps at least 2 inches in the air out of surprise. Sakura whips around damn near catching whiplash.

"You scared me baka." Naruto scratches the back of the head while nervously smiling.

"Sorry Sakura-chan." Sakura sighs and sits next to him she didn't see any signs of sleep in his eyes so she knew he couldn't sleep either.

"I'm worried about tomorrow." She admits looking down at her hands.

Naruto grabs her hand once again shocking her. "Weren't you the one who told me not to worry?"

"That's not the same baka I'm naturally a worrier." They both share a laugh. Naruto still held her hand and was now caressing her knuckles.

She was going to say something but it felt...nice. "So why can't you sleep?"

Naruto only looked at their hands he was silently rejoicing that she didn't pull away. "Too many thoughts." He finally answers.

Sakura scoffs, "you thinking I don't believe it."

"Sakura-channn," Naruto whines causing Sakura to once again bust out laughing.

"I'm just kidding baka." Naruto chuckles as he watches her green orbs fill with tears from laughing so much. All he want to do is protect her smile that's the promise he made to himself when leaving Ichiraku.

Sakura whips her tears she looked up into his eyes once she realizes he was staring at her with fierce determination. "Naruto?" She whispers just loud enough for him to hear her.

He breaks eye contact and skin contact once he noticed how close their faces were yet again. He would respect her wishes whether he liked it or not. "Sakura-chan maybe you should get some rest."

"Trying to get rid of me?" She jokingly asks not aware of how close Naruto lose his self-control.

Sakura stands up and stretches unaware of a pair of cerulean looking her over. Once done Sakura observes him before saying good night and heading back to bed.

 _I could have sworn his eyes flash red._ She thought to herself knowing she wasn't going to get any sleep. Instead, she'll be thinking about the look in his eyes. _Did I upset him to cause the Kyuubi to awaken?_

Meanwhile, Naruto was laying back down staring up at the ceiling he could practically feel his eyes changing colors. He could see a flash of fear in her eyes before they go emotionless.

 _I'll just sleep on it._

...

Naruto wakes up from his sleep groggy the only sound he heard was water running in the kitchen. He ruffles his hair and gets up from the couch and cracks his sore back.

Naruto walks into the kitchen to find Sakura cleaning some dishes. Shinachiku was happily eating some cereal without any milk. How he didn't hear them before was beyond him.

"Morning." Sakura turns around with a bright smile that seemed to hide something else.

"Hey, I made you some breakfast." Naruto suddenly froze up when she said that. He feared for his life as he begrudgingly sat down. She set down a plate of pancakes on the table and a bottle of syrup.

"H-h-h-have you eaten yet?" Sakura shakes her head telling him she wasn't hungry. Naruto inwardly cried but then a happy thought came to mind. _It's impossible to mess up pancakes so it'll be fine._ Oh, how wrong he was.

Naruto happily puts syrup on the pancakes and puts it in his mouth and chews. He stopped mid chew when an unfamiliar disgusting taste spoiled his taste buds. The syrup didn't help one bit it only made things worst. "How does it taste?" He eyes her when she had the nerve to even ask such a thing. If he was going, to be honest, he would say something along the lines of it tasting like trash and that spoiled milk tasted better.

"It's great Sakura-chan..." His stomach was crying from the agony the nasty pancakes was causing.

Sakura smiles happily, "well I guess I should try it too since it's so great." Sakura takes a piece of his and taste it. She excuses herself and comes back 5 minutes later looking ghostly pale. "You could have just told me the truth."

Sakura drunk some water and came back with Shinachiku in her arms. "I don't understand I followed the recipe perfectly." Naruto shrug he wasn't going to hold it against her at all.

"Maybe I should be the one to do the cooking." Sakura sighs but nonetheless agrees with his statement.

"Since I ruined breakfast we'll get some on our way to Tsunade-sama office." It was then that he was reminded of yesterday.

"We find out today." Sakura nods looking a bit down herself.

"We can only hope for the best. Besides, it's impossible that Shina is ours we know we didn't do anything like that." She smiles encouragingly.

"Yatta you're right Sakura-chan! We have nothing to fear!"

"Baka." She says through her giggles at how childlike her teammate could be. They were ready to go and find out the results.

.x.

Tsunade poured herself another cup of sake knowing that at any minute her student and Naruto would be here. She sighs the results were in and she hasn't told a soul yet not even Shizune.

She got no sleep up all night doing test after test just to be sure. She closes her eyes when she senses the familiar chakra of Naruto Sakura and a new one most likely Shinachiku. A knock at her door let her know whoever knocked was really nervous.

"Enter." Sakura and Naruto enter with the one-year-old holding on tightly to Naruto.

"S-Shishou?" The nervousness was evident in her voice along with the way she stood. Wasting no time she revealed the results to the teens.

"Shinachiku is not yours." Like a big weight was lifted they smiled at each other but it was kind of bittersweet. On one hand they weren't going to get imprisoned but then on the other hand who were Shinachiku's real parents? "Now get out of my sight go celebrate or something." Sakura bows and leaves along with Naruto who just said something along the lines of, _see ya Baa-chan_.

Tsunade false facade drops almost instantly once they left. Instead of using a cup she downs the bottle of sake instead. Another problem was once again on her shoulders she knew that her fears were coming true. If the council found out about the newfound information she was keeping secret she would be impeached instantly.

But in order to protect her most precious people she would do it a thousand times over again. It just didn't make sense even after the 20th time she did the test it came out the same each time.

Naruto and Sakura were Shinachiku's parents. The next question is how...

 **X**

 **Long overdue I had fun doing this chapter every tidbit was fun to write I don't know why I kept procrastinating on this story.**

 **What do you guys think? Review and Rejoice.**


	8. Mission: Secrets

**Chapter 8:**

 **Mission: Secrets**

 **Disclaimer: I Don't own Naruto.**

"Tsunade." Tsunade snaps around to her window where her former teammate and long time friend sat.

"What are you doing here Jiraiya?" Jiraiya laughs and steps in the office.

"I can't visit my old teammate and fellow sannin." He grins but could tell that something was wrong with her. If she wanted him to know what the problem is she would tell him.

"Can you put a sound seal in this room?" Jiraiya happy go lucky expression disappears as he nods. He does a few hand signs and slams his hand on a random part of the wall.

"Done now what's so important that you need a sound seal."

Tsunade takes a deep breath before going into a long explanation about what has happened over the last few days. "Shinachiku..." He tests the name on his tongue. He had to admit the brat and Tsunade's student picked a pretty good name. But that wasn't the main focus right now.

"So Danzo and Orochimaru both want a piece of the child." He states looking out of the window deep in thought. He now understood why she wanted sound seals in the room. The walls have eyes you never know who's watching or listening to their every word.

"So you lied to them so Danzo won't know that the brat is their child. And what exactly are you going to tell the council?" She wasn't an idiot she thought ahead and thought about the outcomes it wasn't good either way.

"The lie." Jiraiya didn't look surprised when she told him that. In fact, he looked a bit proud or relieved. "I refuse to have the council do anything to my student and that brat I'll give up this title before I let them get imprisoned or worse die."

"If the council ever find out-"

"They won't find out I'll make sure of it. But there is one thing that concerns me about the child." Jiraiya raises an eyebrow looking at her questioningly silently asking ' _and what is that_ '.

"I'm no sensor type but that child's chakra isn't right being that young I shouldn't be able to sense him from down the road in my office. So I formed a hypothesis since Shinachiku is Naruto's child is it possible that he inherited the Kyuubi's chakra?" The silence was deafening as Jiraiya thought about what she just said. He still couldn't understand how Naruto and Sakura could possibly have a child without doing anything of the sort with each other.

"That shouldn't be possible, Naruto even before having the Kyuubi sealed in him was exposed to the Kyuubi's chakra since Kushina did have the Kyuubi in her and carried Naruto for 9 months. That would mean that somehow someway Shinachiku was exposed to the chakra through Sakura..." Tsunade sighs it just didn't make any since anymore.

"Then again we never had a male Jinchuuriki for the Kyuubi before so who knows. Maybe when impregnating Sakura he shot som-"

"Finish that sentence and I'll knock you all the way across the village."

"Only across the village usually, it's all the way to Suna maybe I'm finally rubbing off on you hime." Jiraiya wiggles his eyebrows suggestively irking Tsunade tremendously. Leave it to Jiraiya to say something pervy in the middle of an important discussion. Although it did lighten the mood just a bit.

"This is serious Jiraiya people are going to try and hunt that child down for his power to try and train him up however they like." The toad sage was once again serious as he thought about what to do.

"Ok but first we have to be sure he has the Kyuubi's chakra."

"And how do we do that?"

"Easy I'll go into sage mode," Jiraiya says proudly then he remembered how he would look when he enter sage mode.

"Ok then enter it." Jiraiya cringes but reluctantly nods and performs the summoning Jutsu. He summons Fukasaku and Shima.

"Jiraiya boy why the sudden summon Ma was just about to make her special soup." Jiraiya knew exactly what that special soup consist of and it was enough to make his face turn green.

"I need your help we need to do sage mood to sense someone's chakra." The two toads nod and hops on Jiraiya's shoulder. Jiraiya could feel his appearance change as he entered sage mood.

Tsunade lifts an eyebrow at Jiraiya's sudden change. He had warts webbed hands and feet not to mention that horrible looking goatee. "You shouldn't stare hime." Tsunade held in a snort. Who wouldn't stare at such a sight Jiraiya looked like a half human half toad breed.

"Just find his chakra," Jiraiya grins before forming a look of deep concentration as he searched through the village of thousands of chakra sources for the ones he was looking for. For a better look, Jiraiya hops out of the window to look for his student and his female friend and child.

Finally out of the greens and blues he finds two red chakra sources. "That child has Kyuubi chakra?" Fukasaku asks. Shocked that someone other then the Kyuubi container had Kyuubi chakra. Jiraiya nods answering his question.

"Seems Tsunade was right she'll be happy to hear the news." He says sarcastically before heading back to the Hokage office to confirm her hypothesis.

Once he set foot on the floor of the office the two toads hop off turning his appearance back to normal. "It's as you feared Tsunade the child has Kyuubi chakra." The two toads leave them seeing as they had much to discuss. Jiraiya promised to tell them everything later on.

Tsunade puts her head in her hands stressed from the new information. The fact that Shinachiku had Kyuubi's chakra only complicated things. People like Orochimaru were going to do experiments on the child. Then there was Danzo...

"Jiraiya I need a favor." Jiraiya was all ears he worried about Tsunade seeing the dark circles and bags under her eyes. "I need you to take Naruto and Sakura out of the village for awhile until everything is cleared."

"Hime don't you think that will cause suspicion." He was right but she had no other choice if she was going to protect them then she would need them to not be in the way.

"I know Jiraiya but I have no other option." Tsunade hands Jiraiya a mission scroll from the pile of C ranks. "This is our excuse as to why they are leaving it's a simple investigation mission in Tanigakure no Sato. For more details see the leader a man named Hiroshi."

"The village hidden in valleys? Ah, I haven't been there in quite a while." Jiraiya thought back to the time he spent there. The village was in the land of rivers which was between the land of wind and fire.

"Enough reminiscing are you taking the mission or not." She snaps growing impatient as each minute went by.

"I don't really have a choice do I?" Tsunade glares before shaking her head no. "In that case, I'll take the mission so what are you going to do with the brat's brat?"

"You haven't figured it out yet that Shinachiku is going with you also." Jiraiya was now gaping Naruto and Sakura he could handle but a baby also. "The main reason I'm giving you three this mission is so that no one can get their hands on the baby."

"T-Tsunade I don't think that's a good idea." The slug sannin glares at her former teammate. That's when he knew once again he didn't have a choice in the matter. Sighing he reluctantly agrees. "You're to leave at the crack of dawn tomorrow. Inform Naruto and Sakura immediately." Jiraiya slowly leaves from where he came in. He was going slow on purpose hoping she would stop him and change her mind.

She didn't.

 **.x.**

Naruto and Sakura were stopping by the academy to visit Iruka-sensei. They also wanted to introduce Shinachiku to Iruka.

The mood was light now that they knew the truth now it came to finding out who Shinachiku's real parents are. Naruto was whistling with his arms behind his head seemingly carefree. Sakura shook her head and continues to walk to the academy.

"Naruto-nii-chan!" The two teens turn around to find Konohamaru and his friends running up to them until they spot something in Sakura's arms. "Wh-what is that?"

"It's obviously a baby Konohamaru-chan." Moegi gets closer to Sakura to get a better look at the blonde baby. "Sakura-san and Naruto-san had a child together."

Konohamaru grins mischievously at his "big brother".

"This is Shinachiku he's our charge that Baa-chan gave us." None of the Genin ninjas were buying it seeing it more like an excuse. Naruto sighed he was getting tired of sounding like a broken record and no one believing him. "Look I know that it looks like he's our son but come on there's plenty of blondes and green eyed people in the world." The three Genin decided to ease up on them especially with Sakura standing right there glaring at them. Daring them to say one thing she doesn't like.

"What do you three want anyway," Sakura says dropping her glare once she felt that she got her point across.

"Uh we just wanted to see if the rumors were...right," Udon speaks up seeing as his two friends were to scared to give a reply.

"Damn once I get my hands on the one who's spreading rum-" Sakura face palmed she knew who was spreading the rumors. Sakura turns towards Naruto and hands Shinachiku to him. Shinachiku looked sadly at her before she pecked him on the forehead. "I have a gossiping best friend to take care of I'll see you later Naruto." Sakura hurriedly walks off into the direction he guessed was a certain flower shop.

The three close friends shook in fear as they felt sorry for said person that she suspected was spreading the rumors. "Naruto-san can I hold Shinachiku."

"Uh, yeah sure." He gives the 13 year old the child. "Uh be careful he pulls hair." Moegi nods she along with Konohamaru and Udon make faces causing Shinachiku to giggle. Naruto smiles at the sight as long as Shina was happy he was happy.

"Naruto." Naruto turns just as Jiraiya lands on the ground. He could tell something was wrong it wasn't usual that the senin was seen frowning.

"Ero-senin?" Jiraiya would have got upset at the nickname if more important matters didn't need to be discussed.

"Aw come on Moegi you're hogging him to yourself. He wants to be held by his Oji-san." Moegi rolls her eyes but nonetheless hands over the child.

Jiraiya finally got a good look and now could see why people thought he was Naruto's and Sakura's. "Where's your teammate?"

"Uh Sakura-chan is most likely at the Yamanaka flower shop. Why?"

"We have something important to discuss meet me at the hot springs once you find your teammate." Naruto nods seriously and watches the man leave.

"Aww do you have to go Naruto-nii-chan?" Naruto smirks and ruffles Konohamaru's hair much to his dissatisfaction.

"Yep maybe later you can show me how far you progress in your ultimate jutsu." By ultimate jutsu he just meant the Oiroke no Jutsu (sexy jutsu). "Just don't do it when I'm with Sakura she'll kill me." Konohamaru nods quickly he already couldn't wait to show him it. Naruto picks up Shinachiku and says goodbye to them as Shina mumble a few baby words. He decides to take to the rooftops Shinachiku seemed to like that way better.

Meanwhile with Sakura she found her best friend behind the counter. Ino looks up and sees an angry red face pink haired girl storming in. "Ino-piggg." She growls out Ino not wanting to be on the other side of the raging bull fist tries to calm her down.

"A-ah Sakura what brings you here?" The only answer she received was a glare that could turn you to stone.

"You...rumors...why." She was so angry she couldn't even put together a grammatical sentence. Ino knew what she meant and thought about it.

"I would never spread rumors about you Sakura." Ino slowly backs up when she saw the obvious twitch in her right eye. It must be taking Sakura her all not to destroy the shop with her monster strength.

"Oh really..." She says slowly not believing a word she was saying.

"Ok, maybe one or two things-" seeing that Sakura was about to blow a fuse she quickly added, "but they were true."

Before Sakura could say anything Naruto comes strolling in telling her that pervy-sage wanted them to meet him. Ino was thankful that he did come in when he did. She glares once more at Ino then leaves with Naruto.

The two walk in silence to the hot springs. Sakura was obviously still very angry at Ino and decided to _talk_ to her later. "Sakura-chan..."

"I'm fine." She says dismissively. By _I'm fine_ she meant that she could punch something right then and there. "Let's just not keep Jiraiya-sama waiting." Naruto sweatdrop he was sure that the pervy sage wouldn't mind the wait at all.

"Yeah let's hurry before he gets another harassment charge." Sakura looks at Naruto with a bewildered expression. She didn't think she heard him correctly.

"On the way, you're explaining." There was no way he could avoid the topic with the way she spoke to him.

"Ok, it was back in Cha no Kuni..."

 **.X.**

Jiraiya continued peeking into the hot springs despite hearing footsteps behind him. "Trying to get another charge _Pervy-sage_." Surprisingly it wasn't the brat's voice but instead a female voice with a mocking tone.

Slowly he turns to be greeted with a glare from Tsunade's student and a chucking blonde. "I thought we agreed to never speak of that brat." He growls towards Naruto.

"It slipped."

"Oh, really I have a few stories Sakura-chan would probably enjoy or not." Naruto immediately stops laughing and changes subjects.

"Uh, what did you want us for Jiraiya-sama?" Naruto says trying to get on the Sannins' good side.

Jiraiya grins inwardly, "glad you ask we have a mission." Jiraiya says seriously.

"Ok, I guess I'll have to find a babysitter for Shinachiku." She was already going down the host list of people that could take care of the baby with her mother first on the list.

"No need the kid is coming with us." A silence settles over the group for at least a minute despite it feeling like an hour. The first one to break the silence was of course the number one hyperactive, knucklehead ninja.

"I refuse!" Sakura glared openly agreeing fully with her blonde teammate. "Shinachiku isn't even one yet and you want us to take him on a potentially dangerous mission. Have you and Baa-chan lost your minds!?" Jiraiya knew something like that was going to happen. It was one of the reasons why he didn't want to break the mission to them.

"Look I know you're both upset-"

"Understatement." Naruto interrupts.

"But it's Tsunade idea to send you three on a mission. She wants to clear the rumors and problems with the council and it isn't helping with you here." Naruto shakes his head defiantly already made up his mind. Jiraiya turns his attention to the still silent pinkette with a pleading look. He was hoping that the levelheaded and smart one of the two would understand.

"I'm sorry Jiraiya-sama but I can't put Shina in danger."

"No I'm sorry Sakura but you and Naruto don't have any choice in the matter." Everyone looks to the small bridge to find Tsunade leaning on the rails. She knew that the two stubborn teens wouldn't do as she ask even if she begged all she can do is force them.

"Baa-chan... Why?" She sighed knowing that explaining things without telling them the truth was going to hunt her forever.

"The council especially Danzo aren't just going to, believe me, they know both of you are close to me and know I would do anything to protect you both. I don't want any of you getting caught in the middle of this problem. It was my blunder for giving you two this mission in the first place."

Sakura looks at Shinachiku who was looking at a butterfly flying around innocently. She understood everything but it was an internal battle between her mind and heart. "How can you sit here and allow us to take a baby on a mission?" Sakura spoke in a quiet whisper that seemed loud in her own ears.

"Trust me as Hokage you have to make the hard decisions and this is one of them." Naruto stares down at the child still in his arms who is reaching for the female Hokage to be held.

"Are you two going on the mission or not?" Naruto shakes his head his answer no as Sakura looks at her Shishou in deep thought.

"I see...I'll see you both after the mission." Naruto shares a confused expression with the pinkette just as he was going to speak up his world went black.

Behind the two fallen ninjas was Kakashi who was also holding the child and Asuma. "Even though I don't know what's going on I have a feeling that this will benefit them both," Asuma says.

"I already have Ino packing up Sakura's gear and Shikamaru packing up Naruto's gear. I'll personally pack Shinachiku gear in a scroll."

"And the baby?" Shinachiku now seemed more attentive and seemed to be glaring up at Kakashi.

"Give him to Jiraiya maybe he'll keep him occupied for a while." Kakashi gives the child to the sage who takes him reluctantly.

"Hime..."

"We'll come back with all of their things packed and you're off." Jiraiya seemed to notice something in the air he could feel a shift in chakra. He wrote it off as Genjutsu covering them from outsiders.

"Ok, Tsunade I'll make shadow clones to carry them." She nods and leaves heading to Naruto's place where Shikamaru was already at. She whispers a quiet _sorry_ to the teens who she considered her children.

If everything went according to plan then they would be back in no time. And if it didn't then she was going to more than likely be impeached. It was worth it to protect the ones she loved. _Her family._

 **.x.**

 **This chapter is earlier then I expected but due to all the reviews I received I was feeling motivated to finish this chapter for you guys. School also ends next Friday then it's summer time for me. Which hopefully means frequent updates for you guys.**

 **So if you want more and fast updates review and if you haven't already follow and/or favorite.**


	9. Mission: Planning

**Chapter 9:**

 **Mission: Planning**

 **Disclaimer: I Don't own Naruto.**

The forest was silent as ever leaving the Sannin with only his thoughts as Naruto, Sakura, and Shinachiku slept. He's been walking for at least two hours as the sun rose high in the air.

Fortunately for him, no one woke up just yet so he was able to put distance between them and the village.

All Jiraiya could hope was that everything would be solved as quickly as possible but he knew that wasn't going to happen. He sighed feeling a bit winded from the whole trip so far. It would take a whole day to actually get through the vast forest of the land of fire. Then half a day to locate the village.

By then he was sure that Naruto and Sakura both would be awake. A part of him wished he stayed where he was before coming back to the village but he would always help Tsunade first and foremost.

His thoughts shifted to the mission that they would have to juggle while taking care of a baby. Hopefully, Tsunade figured out what the child is or where he came from. He had more time to think since Tsunade sent extra precautions by having some ANBU follow and protect them.

Jiraiya signaled to the ANBU that he was planning on taking a small break. It was a shame that he the legendary Sannin was stuck babysitting. Jiraiya's clones stretch after setting their deadweight on the ground. (Except for Shina)

He wondered how everything was going back at Konoha.

 **.x.**

Everything was not ok it didn't take long for Danzo to find out that the makeshift family was gone. The old war hawk stared her down with ill-disguised anger. Despite her thoughts, she still refused to reveal her cards.

"Where are they?" She feigned confusion but Danzo could see right through her act.

"If you're talking about Naruto and Sakura they're on a mission. It's expensive to raise a child y'know." If she thought it wasn't possible for Danzo's glare to get fiercer she would be wrong.

"And the child?" Tsunade chuckled quite loudly stunning the man for a moment. He didn't think he said anything funny...no he didn't say anything funny.

"What makes you think I'll tell you anything?" Danzo didn't seem fazed once so ever it seemed he was back in control of his emotions. He could read her like a book whether she knew it or not. She was hiding something and he would get to the bottom of it.

"So the child isn't in the village." She didn't let a single emotion slip by her shell but Danzo already had it figured out.

"Thank you for your time Tsunade-hime." He turned to take his leave but Tsunade wasn't having it without a few words herself.

"I won't let you harm them even if it means ruining my life." She slammed her fist on the table glaring at the back of the man she hated the most. Without turning back around Danzo spoke.

"Who says anything about harming anyone like you I just want what's best for the village." With that, he left the blonde behind.

Tsunade sat back down sighing exasperatedly as she took out a bottle of sake. She poured herself a glass and downed it quickly. For some reason, it didn't taste the same to her. Sake always helped to calm her nerves but it just wasn't working.

Once again she lets out a tiring sigh and screwed the top back on the bottle of her favorite beverage.

The last thing she needed was to be intoxicated with everything that's going on around the village. Any day now she would have to give the results to the council. It would either make or break her life.

If the council found out she lied to them she would not only be impeached but possibly killed. That's just what Danzo wanted he would like nothing more than to become the 6th Hokage and have Naruto and Shinachiku.

The busty blonde began rubbing her temples as she felt another headache overwhelm her. _How could one baby cause so much mayhem?_ She couldn't dwell on it long since someone just knocked on her door. "Enter."

In came her first apprentice with a sad smile towards her. "I saw Danzo come out of here."

"Yeah can't say it was enjoyable." Shizune straightened up her mentor's desk which was covered in scrolls some rolled and some unrolled.

"I have to figure out where that child came from." Shizune looked at her mentor with a sad expression. She worked beside the blonde for years and could tell that the job was starting to wear her down. It wasn't easy trying to run a whole village with not even 50% power over the village. She might as well be a figurehead. Shizune was sure that she already figured that out a while ago.

"Where do you plan on searching first?" All she did was shake her head. She had no clue but knew who to assign the mission to.

"Orochimaru knows something that we don't so our best bet is to find out what he knows. Send in Kakashi, Team Gai, and Team Kurenai I have a mission for them." Shizune bowed and quickly exit despite her doubts about the mission.

Her head was pounding that not even chakra would soothe it. It felt like a never-ending hangover. Hopefully, Jiraiya is holding up better than she is.

 **.x.**

Kabuto finally arrived back at the dark base of his master Orochimaru. The only sound was the drips of water and faint screams of horror that made Kabuto feel excited. He strolled into where he suspected Orochimaru was.

"Ahh Kabuto I didn't expect the mission to take so long," Kabuto smirked confidently at having completed the mission successfully.

"Although it did take longer than expected having to bypass Konoha Shinobi. Your sources were correct Orochimaru-sama I already injected the child with the serum." Orochimaru removed the bloodied gloves all while cackling.

The once alive test subject laid on the examination table in a bloodied mangled mess. "Excellent news Kabuto get someone in here and clean up this mess." Kabuto does as ordered in less than a minute not wanting Orochimaru's wrath on him.

"The serum should activate any day now." Orochimaru sat on his _"throne"_ with what seemed to be a permanent smirk on his face.

"If you don't mind me asking Orochimaru-sama what does the serum do to the child?"

"It awakens the Kyuubi's chakra being as young as the child is he won't be able to control it. Theoretically of course. There's never been a male host for the Kyuubi until now." Kabuto now understood it was like an experiment. He found himself intrigued by the possibility that someway somehow the child could have Kyuubi chakra. A malicious grin spread across the medic nin's face as the images of cutting open and testing the child flashed through his mind.

"Kabuto I have another mission for you, this time, it involves Sasuke-kun." From the grin spreading on Orochimaru's face Kabuto knew it was going to be entertaining...for him. "I think it's time for Sasuke-kun to see how busy his former teammates have been." Orochimaru's cackling echo throughout the whole base sending shivers up the spines of anyone who heard it.

"On it Orochimaru-sama."

"Excellent."

 **.x.**

A groan came from the pinkette who was awoken by the distant sound of crying. She could slowly feel her mind getting drawn away from a fogged pit called her subconscious.

Slowly her eyes fluttered open but was met with the sight of blurred green and brown colors. To clear her vision some more, she squeezed her eyes shut tightly. Once again she opened her eyes and slowly her vision was returning back too normal but there was one other problem.

Her head was pounding but not unbearable nothing a little chakra can't fix. The constant crying that first woke her up seemed much louder and less muffled now that she was half aware of her surroundings which remind her...

 _Why the hell am I in the middle of the forest?_

Quickly she sat up damn near puking up bile. The worse decision she ever made by sitting up that fast. She groaned even more as the crying got insistently louder making her already bad headache searing.

"Sakura you're awake." The voice sounded a bit too excited for her liking. On the bright side, it was a voice she recognized. _So I didn't get kidnapped or anything like that._

"Jiraiya where am I?" Finally, she turned her emerald eyes his way after observing her surroundings.

Her eyes shifted from the Sannin to the crying child in his arms. "Uh before you do or say anything let me explain." He said nervously trying to avoid her temper before it reared its ugly head. "You know what why don't you hold the child I'm sure he misses you ALOT." He handed her the child quickly then stepped back at least a foot. _She wouldn't attack me with a child in her arms. Right?_

"Tsunade did it." That was the best he could come up with without getting in trouble with maybe both girls.

"Did what?" Sakura replied through clenched teeth as she tried her hardest to contain her anger.

"Give you two this mission and take... Shinachiku with...us..." With each word he spoke he could feel the heat come from her unadulterated anger.

"Jiraiya-sama could you pass me my bag?" She said sickly sweet that made Jiraiya second guess his decision ever since he came back to the village recently. "I have to feed Shina and I'm still a bit _dizzy_." He could have sworn he heard her growl out the word dizzy.

Audibly he gulped and shakily picked up the bag and handed it to her. He wasn't a religious type of person but he prayed to Kami that whatever happened to him would be painless.

"Thank you Jiraiya-sama." He thought he saw the face of the Akuma (devil) when she gave him a smile for retrieving her bag.

"Are you ok Shina you must be hungry." She said childishly to the baby who was now sobbing in her shirt. "Unfortunately, you'll have to wait a little bit longer." She said softly which seemed to echo around the whole forest. It was as if the world moved in slow motion when he saw her dig in her bag with her free hand. But the item she pulled out had him retreating.

She smirked evilly as she watched the Sannin run away when she pulled out her signature gloves. "Alright Shina you must be hungry I know that pervert didn't feed you at all." The bag was full of scrolls she knew that either Ino or Tsunade maybe both packed her ninja gear and Shina's necessities.

Another thought just hit her when she remembered what Jiraiya told her. _Give you two this mission?_ She knew for a fact that he wasn't talking about Shinachiku then who? That's when everything that happened before she was knocked out came to the forefront of her mind.

"Naruto..." She looked around frantically for her blonde teammate. She shook her head as Shina's cries got (if possible) louder. She would worry about him later but for now, she had another problem to deal with.

"Ok, ok Shina sorry I got lost in thought." She opened scroll after scroll looking for the one she was looking for. Finally, the scroll with baby food opened up.

She decided to feed him mushed carrots hopefully he'll eat it. Distant chatter interrupted what she was just about to do. Literally, a spoonful of mashed carrots was right in front of Shinachiku's mouth. The baby was trying desperately to get the food in his mouth that his distracted caretaker was holding.

Sakura looked around trying to pinpoint where exactly the two voices was coming from. Bushes rattle from her right catching her attention quickly. She charges chakra in her fist just in case she needed to defend herself and Shina.

She quickly stopped charging chakra once she saw who came out of the bushes. "Where the hell did you two go?"

"Sorry, Sakura-chan I was uh releasing a load." The silence after his statement was quite heavy that is until Jiraiya burst out laughing.

Sakura herself was stunned she didn't know whether to be angry, confused or slightly flustered. So she chose to be all three.

"What the hell!? You don't tell a girl that baka especially not in front of a baby!" Naruto was confused now as to why Sakura was so angry that he just went to use the bathroom. Also as to why Jiraiya was currently bent over crying from laughter.

"So you were emptying your tank? I hope you shot in the bushes." Jiraiya couldn't hold back anymore and lets out another round of laughter.

"You're both perverts!" Sakura turned her back to them to finally feed Shinachiku who happily ate his food.

"What? Everyone does it." Sakura ignored him as Jiraiya was now rolling on the ground laughing too loud.

"Gaki if you're feeling pent up I'll leave you two alone just don't get her knocked up again." Never in his life have Naruto blushed so red their words plus his was slowly catching up to him until realization hit him like a train.

"WHAT!? NO! I ONLY USED THE BATHROOM! I TOOK A PISS!" He noticed how his voice seemed to reverberate around the entire forest. It was a good time thing they were still in fire country.

Jiraiya was now pounding the ground as he cried from the amount of laughter he's doing. "One of the best nights of my life."

What they didn't notice was the way Sakura's lip twitched trying to hold back her own laughter.

 **.x.**

 **Poor Naruto so innocent maybe I should change the rating after that *cough* banter.**

 **This chapter was meant to be a light chapter before I get serious. I was also feeling a bit giggly after the positive feedback my new story is getting. Honestly, I'm excited to start chapter two already. And I'm now at 100 follows for this story. =.=**

 **Review and if you haven't already follow and/or favorite.**


	10. Mission: Horrible Introductions

**Chapter 10:**

 **Mission: Horrible Introductions**

 **Disclaimer: I Don't own Naruto.**

After their eventful night, the three ninjas and one baby were off. Everyone's guard was up, especially since they had a baby with them. The order they traveled in was Jiraiya first Sakura and Shina in the middle and Naruto bringing up the rear.

Pretty soon they were going to reach the border of the land of fire and start the mission. The sooner they complete the mission the sooner they'll go back home. But Jiraiya knew better at that moment Tsunade is probably struggling with the council right now.

He wanted to put the kid's worries at ease but he didn't know how exactly to do that. It was easier said than done. Jiraiya glanced back at the child who seemed very attentive to where they were going.

The only sound that came from the dense forest was their feet stepping on branches. It gave them an uneasy feeling that someone was either watching them or following them.

Shinachiku stared ahead with a neutral expression. The kid was truly strange especially knowing that he has Kyuubi chakra in him. Maybe Orochimaru knew about that and wanted to test his hypothesis.

It's possible that the kid is linked to them both but how linked? A DNA test told them that Shinachiku had their blood in him but how is that possible. He believed Naruto and Sakura when they said they never had sex. Hell, they never even kissed.

The first step to finding out what Shinachiku is they would need to talk to the Kyuubi. He wasn't sure if the Kyuubi would be any help but maybe he could shine some light on the situation.

It seemed he was lost in thought for a while because next thing he knew the forest became smaller and smaller. While he was thinking they must have crossed the border. They were now in neutral territory the land of rivers. Anything can happen good or bad so they had to keep their eyes open and be on guard.

"We'll take a quick break once we reach one of the many rivers here." He didn't receive any word from his charges but knew they agreed with him.

Finally, they reached the first river since going pass the border of the land of rivers. "Alright let's take a break before we get to Tanigakure no Sato." He watched as Naruto was given Shinachiku by Sakura. Then she reaches into her bag to pull out a scroll. She undid the scroll and out came baby stuff.

She took out diapers, wipes, baby powder, and a blanket. Naruto put Shina down on the blanket so he could change his diaper. He was really surprised that they were actually great parents for a couple of teens that is. They were naturals.

Working around each other like parents who's done it many times. Jiraiya chuckles when Naruto was sloppily taking the dirty diaper off of the scrambling baby. The natural forest smell wasn't enough to shield the stench of poop from Naruto's nose. Shinachiku clapped and laughed loudly as Naruto's face turned different shades of green.

Sakura takes over when Naruto almost pass out from the stench of the dirty diaper. Sakura rolled her eyes while quietly laughing at the blonde. "Baka."

Naruto left her with the diaper changing in favor of talking with Jiraiya. "How's fatherhood gaki?"

"I wasn't expecting to be a father figure so early in my life but so far it feels nice. It's kind of like I finally have a family." Jiraiya could tell a happy man when he saw one and boy were Naruto happy.

"Too bad you and mommy aren't together yet." Naruto glared at Jiraiya for bringing that up so close to Sakura.

"You two are a natural."

"Yeah well it doesn't feel like it I don't know how to be a father since my own wasn't in my life." Jiraiya could tell that those words have been on his mind for awhile now.

"Listen Naruto being a parent is a learning process both you and Sakura are going to make mistakes that you'll learn and grow from. Have you not had this conversation with Sakura?" Naruto shook his head no. "I'm sure that if you did you would realize you're not the only one with self-doubts." Naruto turned his attention back to Sakura and Shina who were finally done with diaper changing.

"Are you sure?" Jiraiya rolled his eyes not bothering to answer the blonde.

"Five more minutes," Jiraiya announced loud enough so Sakura could hear him. So far so good on their end he couldn't be so sure about Tsunade's end.

The five minutes went by very quickly then they were on their way to the village.

 **.x.**

Ino picked with the barbecue quietly as her other two teammates chatted. It seemed like she was the only one actually worrying about her friends.

Tsunade didn't tell her much just to pack Sakura's things she usually takes on a mission. Maybe it was a bit ridiculous to just follow orders with no questions asked but that's just how everything worked.

Then there's this strange atmosphere surrounding the village. It was like everyone was waiting for something to happen but wasn't sure what. It's only been two days since Sakura and Naruto left but with those two gone the village seemed quiet.

"Ino." The blonde jumped as soon as Choji's hand lands on her shoulder. "You've been zoning out all day are you ok?" As usual, her teammates always look out for her making sure she fine. That's Ino-Shika-Cho for you.

"I'm just worried."

"Relax they've been on many missions before and they even have Jiraiya accompanying them." Ino sighed and went back to picking at her food. "When did you get so concerned anyway?"

Ino stopped her picking to glare at her pineapple head friend. "It's because they have Shinachiku with them! Poor Shina he can't even defend himself from any bad guys." Ino dramatically looked out of the window with tears streaming down her face.

"What a good friend you are?" Shikamaru mumbled under his breath sarcastically.

"Hey, you guys!" Team 10 shifted their attention to the owner of that voice which happen to be Team Gai.

"What are you guys doing here?" Ino made some room for two more people while Choji and Shikamaru make room for one.

"Lee wanted to look for Sakura to ask her out and fail miserably." Tenten rolled her eyes and took some of Ino's uneaten food. She wasn't upset about it since she wasn't even eating it.

"You can't break my youthful spirit Tenten." Team 10 had to cover their eyes before they get blinded by the sparkles of determination in his eyes. It seemed that the rest of Team Gai was use to it by now.

"Well good luck with that Naruto and Sakura are both on a mission." That seemed to break Lee's spirit.

"A mission? I thought taking care of Shinachiku was their mission?" Neji questioned which Shikamaru answered tiredly.

"A mission on top of a mission." He yawned out.

"Do you guys know when they'll be back?" Team 10 all shake their head no. Nothing was told to them and Shikamaru wasn't expecting to be told anything. He knew when to mind his own business but the same can't be said about his blonde friend.

"The bad part about it is that they were forced to go on the mission with Shinachiku." Ino huffed angrily just thinking about poor Shina getting hurt.

"R-really?!" Tenten was beyond bewildered she couldn't see her role model forcing them to take Shinachiku on a mission that could end badly.

"Something is not right." Neji muttered while thinking of the reason why their Hokage would do that.

"Hokage-sama probably wanted to get them out of her hair. I can't imagine how the village is taking it. I'm sure you guys noticed the looks they give Naruto." A heavy silence hangs over the small group as they contemplate Shikamaru's words. You didn't have to be around Naruto long to not notice the looks that shift from the blonde to themselves.

"I've always wondered about that." Shikamaru had a guess of why but he couldn't really prove it. So he kept it to himself for the time being.

"What should we do?" Tenten asked worriedly waiting for anyone to come up with something.

"Nothing." Neji agreed with Shikamaru they couldn't do anything even if they wanted to since they had no idea what was going on.

"What do you mean nothing lazy ass?" Shikamaru muttered the word troublesome under his breath. He was luckily spared from having to explain himself since Neji was the one who explained.

"There's nothing we can do we can't walk up in the Hokage's office and demand answers that We already know she's not going to give." Ino lowered her head in disappointment. Tenten looked around the table almost everyone had the look of failure on their faces. It was truly a sad sight.

"This is so frustrating all we can do is wait until a shit storm hit us all at once." Neji put a calming hand on the brunette's shoulder.

"Then we'll train and be prepared for that shit storm." That was one thing that everyone agreed on even lazy add Shikamaru.

 **.x.**

Finally, the trio reached the village with daylight to spare. It was a good thing too since daylight would make the villagers be able to trust them more. "Finally." Sakura wasn't one to complain but they were traveling for quite a while after they took that break. Her arms were tired from holding Shinachiku for so long.

"Sakura-chan I'll hold Shinachiku now." She didn't even hesitate to give him Shinachiku. Anything to stretch her arms out. She smiled at him instead of saying the word thanks.

"Be on guard of any suspicious activity." The two ninjas nodded determinedly as ever.

"Jiraiya-sama you never did tell us what this mission is about." Jiraiya thought for a moment and realized he really didn't inform then about the mission. It must have slipped his mind.

"It must be the old age that made him forget." Naruto snickered earning a glare from both Jiraiya and Sakura. He cleared his throat and mumbled an apology.

"According to Tsunade, this is an investigation mission." He noticed the way their faces scrunched up in anger when he mentioned Tsunade's name. "We'll have to get more information out of Hiroshi the leader of this village. One of you will stay back at the hotel with Shinachiku we don't need Hiroshi asking questions about why a baby is on this mission. Tanigakure no Sato is an ally of ours and would take it as an insult if we showed up with Shinachiku. Understand?"

"Hai!" Both of them say in unison.

The three received strange looks as they walk through the village towards their destination. Sakura being the only one who's never been to the village before was taking the new environment in. It was like any other village except there seems to be a certain atmosphere surrounding them. The clear glares of distrust towards them was also a sure sign that something wasn't right. Sakura sighed and tried to ignore the looks of disgust and distrust but it wasn't working.

If her memory served her right the village had no ninjas or anyone to defend them from an attack. That was part of the reason they allied with Konoha protection from whatever and in exchange, they would give us material for clothes and such.

Naruto could sense how uncomfortable she was from all the staring. He walked closer to her to at least somewhat protect her from their stares. Sakura could instantly feel the heat coming off of Naruto as he walked beside her. She wouldn't admit it out loud but it was quite comforting.

They reached the hotel with no incidents and got two rooms one for Jiraiya with a bed in it and another for Naruto and Sakura with two beds in it. They didn't seem to have a choice in the matter since Naruto was given a key and Sakura was dragged away by Jiraiya.

"I figured you would be more helpful on this mission which is why you and I are meeting with Hiroshi." She nodded and followed along behind the Sannin.

"Jiraiya-sama how many times have you been to this village?"

"Only a few times but not long enough to be considered a regular guest." She nodded once again as she went back to watching her surroundings. "These people don't take too kindly to strangers especially ninjas."

Sakura sighed knowing their mission was going to be harder if no even trusted them. "I just hope we can get this mission over with and be back home." Jiraiya verbally agreed but he doubted they were going to just go home especially if the problem isn't solved back at home.

"Here it is." Jiraiya met the man once in his life and that was when he visited about 2 years ago. The man just got the position when he came to the village. He wasn't particularly fond of him since he seemed to always be angry. "Try not to let his...attitude get to you." Sakura had a bad feeling in her gut when she heard what Jiraiya said.

The Sannin took a deep breath before knocking on the door. A woman with long white hair and a gentle smile opened the door. Jiraiya could feel himself get shot by cupid's arrows as he stared into her lovely golden brown eyes. "Ah welcome you two must be the Konoha ninjas we asked for." Before Sakura could even say a word Jiraiya was kissing the woman's hand with a huge blush on his face.

"Yes, we are it's a pleasure to meet you." He pecked her hand again and then winked at her. The situation turned worse when a big muscle man came to the door with rage written all over his face. She assumed that he's Hiroshi and he was very unhappy with Jiraiya kissing the woman's hand.

"What the hell do you think you're doing kissing my wife's hand!?" Jiraiya quickly got up and bowed mumbling a quick apology.

"Well, you see it's Konoha custom to greet a person they never met before like that." Sakura rolled her eyes at his blatant lie. He glared towards her silently telling her to back him up.

"Uh yes please allow me to do the same to...you?" The man eyed Sakura closely before smirking evilly.

"Who am I to stop you from your customs." He held out his hand for her to kiss and smack dab in the middle of his hand was a disgusting looking rash. She looked over to Jiraiya who was giving her a thumbs up and a bright grin of encouragement.

"Oh, I hate you so much." She said as she clenched her fist tightly trying to hold back her anger.

.x.

 **Oh god, Jiraiya is getting Sakura into some messed up business. Wonder what she's going to make him do since she saved his ass. In this story Naruto doesn't know that Minato is his father and Konoha 11 doesn't know about the Kyuubi yet besides Sakura.**

 **This chapter was long overdue but on the bright side I'm getting my mojo back. Slowly but it's coming.**


	11. Mission: False Information

**Chapter 11:**

 **Mission: False Information**

 **Disclaimer: I Don't own Naruto.**

"So not only did you try to make some moves on my wife but you also tried to lie to me." Hiroshi glared at them both but more at Jiraiya. Sakura was also glaring at the pervert who tried to get her to do something as stupid as kiss a rash.

"I apologize for his outrageous behavior, but we should start discussing the mission." Sakura gave the man a cool look as he stared at her.

"Fine I sent a mission request to Konoha to investigate why some of my villagers have gone missing and turn up a week later dead with their hearts missing." Jiraiya and Sakura both sat up straighter and exchange odd looks. It was even more strange that Hiroshi could say such a sentence without looking even a little bit worried.

"When did it all start?" Jiraiya asked seriously trying to get as much information as possible.

"A month ago."

"This isn't just a simple investigation like the mission said this is at least an A-rank mission. So why did you lie?" A silence settled over everyone in the room as they held their breath waiting for his answer.

"I'm not obligated to answer that." Jiraiya felt anger build in him and before he could even get out of his seat and grab the man Sakura was already there. She bared her teeth like a wild animal as she effortlessly lifted the man from his seat by his shirt.

"I'll make you talk." The Sannin conflicted over whether he should stop the pinkette or not. The two have a staring contest to see who will crack first.

"Y'know that's Tsunade's very own student she learned everything from her including strength." His mind was made up he wasn't going to stop Sakura he was going to help her. "You should probably tell her what she wants to hear before there are some _accidents_." Hiroshi's wife who's name they learned was Komoko looked back and forth between her husband and Sakura worry etched all over her face.

"Alright, I'll tell you just let me go," Sakura growled and let him go aggressively making him fall back into his chair.

"You see like Konoha we also have a council our council is full of old geezers who don't trust or like ninjas." Hiroshi stood up and walked over to a cabinet full of alcoholic drinks. He pulled out a bottle of sake and started drinking it from the bottle. "The council wanted to start training willing citizens in the art of the samurai. Then it started changing; the trained samurai was making people join forcibly and taking over the village. All I could do was watch as my village was being torn apart and broken by those very people who were suppose to protect it. The council became corrupted and mad with power. My role in this village slowly started dwindling as I became nothing but a figurehead and sometimes a scapegoat. I could no longer send messages freely as everything I did was being monitored. I lied to avoid suspicion from the council. You came at a perfect time since the Samurai is out looking for our missing people. But I have a sneaking suspicion they aren't looking for our people but terrorizing other villages around us."

Jiraiya narrowed his eyes as he could feel that there was something else Hiroshi wasn't telling them but he let it slide for now.

"In that case, we'll have to be discreet with our investigation. That means I'll be working in the shadows Sakura here will be asking the villagers some questions. Everyone loves a couple with a baby asking simple questions." Jiraiya grinned towards the pinkette who was glaring down at the floors.

"I-I don't think we should do this mission." Hiroshi stood up quickly with a panicked expression.

"If it's money then I'll give you the full pay that an A-rank mission pays. Please help me."

"Sakura why shouldn't we?" He knew why but he could tell that she needed to get it off her chest.

"Why? Are you really asking me that? We have a baby with us that's not even one yet and you're asking me why!? It's too dangerous that's why! I-I'm not risking Shina's life because of some damn village I know nothing about. And if Naruto were here he would agree with me."

...

"I think we should do the mission Sakura-chan." Sakura was in shock she felt like she was the only sane person in the room.

Naruto cringed as Sakura's face slowly morphed into anger. She was so upset her face was turning red she looked like she would burst at any moment. One moment Shinachiku was in Naruto's arms the next he was in Sakura's.

"Fine you two can do the damn mission but Shina and I are going back to the village first thing tomorrow morning." She stormed away entering Jiraiya's room and slamming the door behind her.

"Did she just take my room?" Naruto glared at Jiraiya for thinking about something less important. "I mean...we can't let her go one of us have to convince her to stay, and that will be you. I'll take the kid just do whatever it takes to keep her here." Naruto had never felt so determined as he nodded his head.

Naruto and Jiraiya head to the room Sakura just entered both hesitant to do anything but stand there. Jiraiya pushed Naruto forward trying to get him to knock. It turns out the door was unlocked since she broke the door's lock. They slowly entered looking around for the angry pinkette. They immediately found her rocking Shinachiku as she hummed a tune.

It was an innocent sight and luckily for them it calmed Sakura down significantly. "S-Sakura-chan can we talk...alone." She heard him but wouldn't look at his face.

Jiraiya cleared his throat announcing his presence. "I'll take the child and get him to sleep while you two talk." The Sannin cautiously approached Sakura with his hands out. She was thinking while staring into Shinachiku's half lidded eyes. She looked up and gently handed Shinachiku to Jiraiya.

He quickly left so they could talk sooner rather than later. Naruto closed the door and sat beside Sakura who took a seat on the bed while Jiraiya was leaving. "Sakura-chan—"

"I just don't understand why you would want to do this mission still while putting Shinachiku's life in danger." He sat there quietly as she vented her frustrations to him. "Do you not care what happens to Shinachiku? This isn't just some small mission this is a whole big one. We'll be saving an entire village from only Kami knows what." She stood up and began pacing. "I-I mean we already have Orochimaru after Shina we don't need any more crazy people after him I don't"—her voice broke—"I don't know what I'll do if he's hurt or worse..."

He had to get her to stop talking somehow, and he had an idea how but didn't want to risk anything. Then again she was now crying and worrying to much. He hated seeing her cry he promised to protect her happiness and he would.

Naruto stood up and determinedly turned her around and crashed his lips against her own. A bold move that neither of them was expecting especially Sakura. The kiss only lasted a few seconds not enough for Sakura to snap out of her shock and reciprocate.

Naruto may have seemed calm, cool, and collected on the outside but his mind was in a whirl. He didn't appear to have an inch of regret in his ocean blue eyes. "Sakura-chan weren't you the one who said we'll protect Shinachiku together. And I know you can protect yourself, but I promise to protect you both with my life." He grinned brightly like the first time he ever promised her anything. The amount of conviction in his voice made her able to trust and believe him easily. Not to mention that kiss sealed the promise of a lifetime officially.

 _That's my first kiss, and I-I liked it a lot._ She thought to herself as her hands shakily went to her lips that were still tingling. They were both lost in each other's eyes revealing hidden emotions for each other.

Naruto was the first to make a move as he slowly lifted his hand to caress her smooth, warm cheek. His eyes watch as her tiny pink moist muscle lick her lips in anticipation. He could smell her natural scent of cherry blossoms that he would always love. Everything around them was forgotten as they focused only on each other. Naruto slowly leaned in giving her more than enough time to pull away, but she never did.

The space between them slowly closed. Naruto removed his hand from her face to wrap around her tiny waist. Sakura's hands were on his chest steadily roaming over his chest. Finally, with an explosion of emotions their lips met, both kissing back as fireworks exploded in their mind.

Naruto could only dream of such a thing happening and to his surprise here they were awake kissing each other like it'll be the last.

Unfortunately, all good things come to an end that seemed to happen when Sakura came to her senses and broke away from him. He opened his eyes to see why she suddenly backed away from him. His momentary high was broken and stomped on as she looked at him petrified.

"Sa-Sakura-chan I'm s-sorry." He wasn't. "I didn't mean to kiss you like that." A lie. "I don't know what came over me." Another lie.

"I-I I'm going to g-go check o-on Shinachiku." She turned to leave but stopped when Naruto called out to her.

"Sakura-chan! Fi-first promise me you won't leave tomorrow morning." She couldn't even if she wanted to. Just telling him she was going to check up on Shinachiku was hard enough to get out. So she chose just to nod, but that didn't seem to cut it.

"I n-need to hear you say it." He was asking for too much at that moment, but he didn't care he didn't want her running away from the mission, Jiraiya, the villagers, and him. For his own selfish desire, he needed to hear her promise she won't leave.

"I promise..." with that she was gone.

.x.

Sasuke was not a happy camper right now in fact he rarely is. But his frown seemed more deepened then usual. It was probably because of his new mission with Kabuto an annoyance in his life.

The worse part about it was not knowing what the mission even was. Kabuto just told him to follow him saying it's a mission.

He was getting irritated as they kept passing trees after trees with no clear destination in sight. Kabuto could practically feel Sasuke's anticipation and irritation.

He thought for a moment to actually tell the Uchiha but then that would ruin the surprise. "Enough! what is this mission?" Sasuke stopped on a tree branch his patience finally running out.

"I'm surprised you lasted longer than I thought you would." Sasuke glared dangerously at the gray-haired man. He wasn't in the mood to play any of Kabuto's games.

"Ok. Ok. Tell me Sasuke-kun how do you feel about your old teammates?" Sasuke's expression doesn't change one bit. He could care less about his former teammates they were dead to him. So he told himself.

"You know how I feel about them so what do they have to do with anything." Kabuto was inwardly grinning while his facial expression gave nothing away.

"It seems they got along _very_ well while you were gone." Kabuto wanted to milk his game for as long as he could, but from the look on Sasuke's face, it was coming to an end real soon.

"Get to the point."

"Heh let's just say that Naruto-kun and Sakura-chan shacked up together and had a baby." He tried to hide it well, but Kabuto was watching closely. Sasuke eyes shot open but quickly went back to nonchalant as soon as possible.

 _So that got a reaction out of you. He probably think I'm lying and that this is a test by Orochimaru._ Kabuto cleared his throat getting Sasuke's attention back to him so he could explain the mission clearly.

"We are to take the child _without_ harming him he's our special subject." Sasuke looked to be deep in thought. Kabuto thought that maybe he was reconsidering his choice to join them. "Believe it or not this is a very crucial mission that Orochimaru-sama assigned us both failure is not an option. If you don't feel comfortable doing this mission because you still see them as your friends, then you can leave." For once Kabuto was actually serious, and it showed on his face.

"I told you I don't care about them let's go." Kabuto watched as Sasuke went off the way they were originally going. He could see self-doubt and hesitation in the usually stoic Uchiha.

 _Easier said than done eh Sasuke-kun? We'll see about that._

 **.x.**

 **Kabuto is up to some shady stuff and so is this new village. On the bright side that kiss though XD. But there will be consequences from that kiss. Gradually this story will get more and more serious I know exactly what I'm going to do with Sasuke. It's hard to decipher how Sasuke really feels in this chapter that even Kabuto is unable to understand. Sasuke will make a choice, and it may be the right or wrong one.**

 **Let's not forget that Kabuto out something inside of Shina and that will come to play sooner rather than later. I'm so excited to keep this story going that I'm already on the next chapter.**

 **Review and if you haven't already follow and/or favorite.**


	12. Mission: Seed of Doubt

**Chapter 12:**

 **Mission: Seed Of Doubt**

 **Disclaimer: I Don't own Naruto.**

It was the next morning and as promised Sakura didn't leave. Jiraiya was of course out all night hanging out with some ladies young enough to be his child, or whatever he does when they aren't around.

"Since we're actually doing this mission we need a plan. We can't form a plan without that pervert where is he anyway?" Naruto had a pretty good idea of where he was.

"Uh let's not bother him today maybe he's finding out information on his own." Sakura looked at Naruto with a suspicious glint in her eyes. She tried to play it off, but he could see she was feeling a bit awkward around him.

"Ok let's leave our forehead protectors here and ask around the village." Naruto agreed and took off his and set it beside the beds. Shinachiku reached for the longer headband but was too small to get it.

"Maybe one day you'll get one of your own Shinachiku." Naruto grinned and picked up the toddler.

"Jiraiya is going to get an earful when we get back let's go Naruto." He nodded and followed closely behind the angry pinkette.

"Sakura-chan do you get the feeling that Shina may be older than we think?" Now that she thought about it Shina did seem to act much older than 11 months. Maybe he's a bit older than that there's no way of knowing sadly.

"Yeah, perhaps he is a bit older than we initially thought." The two stared closely at the smaller blonde who was sucking on his thumb while looking around the hallway with curious eyes.

"Hey, maybe we could try to teach him how to walk just to see how old he is," Naruto stated excitedly as Sakura tightened her grip on the strap of the baby bag.

"We'll deal with that later, for now, let's get this mission over with." Naruto agreed as they continued walking to some place where they can grab some food and information."

Naruto was actively searching for a ramen shop while Sakura was looking for anything other than ramen. But unfortunately, food was put on the back burner when they noticed a large crowd gathered at the entrance of the village.

As they grow closer to the growing crowd, it seemed to be more of an angry mob. "What's going on?"

"I'll tell you what's going on those damn samurai came back last night and are treating us like dirt." A random man from the crowd growled angrily.

Sakura and Naruto both exchanged worried glances. Without having to say it, they moved through the mob until they were at the front. One of the samurais seemed to be kicking a young woman on the head. The worse part of it was the look of glee on his rugged face as he did it. None of the other samurais stopped him which lead Sakura to believe he's the leader.

Her eyes narrowed dangerously as she sized the man up just in case an altercation happened between them. Naruto clenched his fist and growled under his breath as each foot made contact with the woman's head.

"This ladies and gentlemen is what happen when you defy our orders!" He yelled maniacally to the group of now hushed people. Naruto could see the look of fear on all of their faces, and it made him sick that they would just watch as one of their own got beat up. Sakura noticed Naruto shaking from out the corner of her eye.

She knew that look in his eyes, and she inwardly grinned as she knew that Naruto would put the man in his place soon enough. "Sakura-chan." She already grasped what he wanted her to do, and she did it without even hesitating.

She grabbed Shinachiku and gave Naruto a wink and a thumbs up. "Give him hell."

He nodded and turned his attention to the rugged man. "If you hit her one more time I'll make sure you regret it." He said loud enough for everyone to hear him.

Silence settled over everyone who heard the unknown newcomer. They couldn't believe that someone would actually say something to the leader of the samurai.

"Well look what we have here a brave soul. I think I'll put you in your place boy." The man kicked the woman so hard in the stomach she went flying into a couple of people in the crowd. Sakura quickly went to check on the woman's wounds while Naruto dealt with the samurai.

"I hit her and what are you going to do about it."

Naruto was beyond angry that he was having trouble controlling his rage. Naruto's hands slowly went up and formed the hand sign for Kage Bunshin no Jutsu to deal with them all.

Just as the words were getting ready to leave his mouth a hand was on his shoulder gripping tightly. Naruto's eyes widened as he slowly turned to find his mentor grinning at the samurai with apologetic eyes.

"I apologize for my godson's behavior you see we just moved here, and he isn't quite sure about what's going on in this village yet." Jiraiya laughed loudly while rubbing the back of his head with the hand, not gripping Naruto's shoulder. "You see Kazu here just wants this village to be safe to raise his son with his wife over there." Jiraiya pointed to Sakura who was already done looking over the injuries and was now glaring at Jiraiya. "Ahh young love."

"Mhmm discipline that boy or I will in front of his pretty little wife." The samurai gave Sakura a lecherous look that made Naruto's blood boil. He was sure that if Jiraiya didn't have a tight grip on his shoulder, he would have pummeled him.

"Right you are I didn't quite catch your name what was it again?"

"Itsuki I would advise you to remember it." With that, the group of Samurai went into the village as the crowd parted a path for them. Sakura silently counted them it seemed that it was over 40 of them.

Everyone seemed to release the breath they were holding in. "Thank you for trying to stand up to them young man but for your own sake don't do it again." The crowd dwindled until it was just Naruto, Jiraiya, Sakura, and the woman that needed to be healed.

"Why did you stop me?" I could have taken him." Jiraiya ignored Naruto and walked over to where Sakura was sitting with one hand faintly glowing.

"They didn't see you do that did they." Sakura shook her head no as she continued to heal the woman. "Good I thought you both understood that we are to go undercover and investigate the last thing we need are the ones who we're investigating suspicious of us."

"You would let that man hit a defenseless woman like that?" Naruto's anger was understandable, but then again they had no clue as to why that woman was singled out and attacked by the samurai. She had to admit they acted too hasty, that could have cost them the mission and maybe even their lives.

"For the sake of our mission..." he didn't give Naruto a direct answer, but from his words, they could tell what his answer was.

Naruto grunted and stormed away from them. "Naruto!"

"Let him go we should get this woman to the hospital." Jiraiya picked her up and began walking to wherever the hospital was with Sakura following close behind him.

"You didn't have to be that cruel." She mumbled under her breath.

"He would have learned it eventually. You're always going to have choices they can be good, and they can be bad. If he had to make a choice between saving you from falling off a building even though you can save yourself and save that woman from that man who couldn't defend herself which would he choose?"

She already knew the answer to his question, but she just didn't see what it had to do with anything. "He would save...me."

"And who do you think I would have saved?" He asked.

"The woman?" She was unsure of her answer since he was so against saving the woman.

"If that was my mission, but for the sake of the current mission, I would have saved you. You're the medic which makes you valuable."

"And what exactly were you getting at?" He stopped and looked up at the blue sky.

"This is what being a Shinobi is about. Making sure the mission is done no matter what." They walked in silence both thinking about different things. "If the roles were reversed and Naruto was the one falling who would you save?"

"The woman." She said with conviction in her voice. "I believe in Naruto and his skills as a ninja to know he wouldn't let something like that take him out." She rubbed Shinachiku's back who was busy looking all around the village with fascination.

"Does he believe in your skills then?" It was at that moment she realized something was off with Jiraiya. The man would never put the seed of doubt in her head about Naruto of all people.

"I-I that's just the way he is, and you should know that of all people." Sakura took a cautious step away from him holding Shinachiku tightly.

"I know that, but from the look you're giving me you doubt your own words." Sakura glared at the older man taking a couple more steps away from him.

"I-I'm going to find Naruto." She ran away without waiting for an answer. But she was too late the seed of doubt already began to settle in and sprout.

Sakura hugged Shinachiku tightly panting as she hid in between two buildings. "Why would he say something like that?" She needed answers and standing there wasn't going to help.

"Shinachiku I don't know what to do." She held the blonde out in front of her looking at the yawning child. "I wish you could talk that would at least calm my raging thoughts down." Shina giggled and attempted to grab at her hair. "How old are you really Shina?"

She sat down on the ground with a small smile, and before she could even stop herself, she opened her mouth. "Can you say, mama?"

The pinkette gasped and covered her mouth with one of her hands. She didn't mean to let those words slip out as if Shinachiku was her own child. "I-I'm sorry Shina don't say that word to me I'm just your caretaker that's it." Sakura stood back up ignoring Shina's sad big green eyes that looked almost like her own.

She needed to find Naruto to make sure he's ok.

 **.x.**

Naruto sat in the small ramen shop he was able to find. He stared blankly at the bowl of noodles deep in thought. He just couldn't believe the words that came out of Jiraiya's mouth.

The older man was never like that even in those two, and a half years they spent together. He also noticed something strange in his eyes when he spoke. His usual soft gray eyes suddenly hardened when he briefly looked at Sakura and Shinachiku.

"Damn it what's going on around here?!" Naruto realized he said that out loud and blushed out of embarrassment. He mumbled an apology and went back to his troubled thoughts.

"That's what I've been asking myself lately." Naruto's heart skipped a beat when he heard the voice of his crush behind him.

"Sakura-chan!" He grinned happily at her, but she could tell it was fake from where she was standing.

"Geez, thanks for leaving alone with that pervert Baka." She sat beside him, and for a split second, he thought he would die when the pinkette decided to hold his already sweaty hands. "Are you ok Naruto I know that what Jiraiya said earlier wasn't exactly what you wanted to hear." She gave his hand a comforting squeeze.

"Yeah maybe he was right I almost blew our cover and put you and Shina in danger." The seed Jiraiya planted in her head grew and grew. She swiftly took her hand back surprising Naruto.

"I could have taken them if we were in danger." She grumbled angrily catching him off guard.

"Sakura-chan?" She sighed calming herself down and ordered herself a bowl of ramen.

"Just forget about it." Naruto stared at her for a moment before Shinachiku caught his attention. The toddler's arms were out towards him wanting to be held by Naruto.

Sakura noticed and passed him off to the blonde who happily took them. "You two are such a wonderful couple so young." The lady gave Sakura her bowl of ramen while she shifted her eyes to all three of them.

"Yeah, we fell in love at such a young age." Sakura lied through her teeth while nervously laughing.

"What's that little cutie's name?"

Naruto grinned like a proud father, "Shinachiku."

Sakura rolled her eyes as the older woman practically fangirled over the baby. Sakura remembered their mission and decided the lady seemed to know a lot about the village. "This is probably the youngest child I've seen in this village for awhile."

"Really? I would think with all the people here there would be couples and children." The woman sighed and shook her head.

"Ever since the Samurai got more dangerous than ever before the villagers have been reluctant to have children and if they did they would leave this place. Not to mention the new problem with people going missing" Naruto grounded his teeth. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"The Samurai can you tell us about them."

"What else is there to say the samurai are nothing but tyrants in this village I just wish everyone wasn't so scared of them and fight back."

"Do you think they're behind the missing villagers?" Sakura was intrigued and tried to hide it as best she could.

"Hmm maybe. Is there a reason you two are asking me so many questions?" The lady asked suspiciously glaring pointedly at the duo.

"We uh we just want to make sure this village is safe for our child." Sakura lied much to the surprise of Naruto. He always knew that Sakura was a bad liar, but it seemed she got better at it the more they stayed around each other.

"Can we ask one more question ma'am?" She pondered for a moment. If the samurai found out she was saying too much about them, she could be in deep trouble. They made sure that none of the villagers gossip about them especially to outsiders. But then again she got this sort of vibe from the two that made her feel safe just by being near them. She nodded coming to a conclusion.

"Did they ever use chakra?" Sakura asked.

"Chakra?" The lady didn't even know what chakra was she lived in the village her whole life unlike the two in front of her.

"Yes, it allows the person to do almost anything like walking on water or climb trees with just their feet even walk on the side of buildings." She thought back to her encounters with the samurais and never saw them do anything out of the ordinary.

"No I don't think so." Sakura breathed and finished her bowl of ramen she left the correct amount for both of their meals.

"Thanks for the information and the food ma'am." Naruto bowed and followed Sakura out of the small restaurant.

"What do you think?" He asked once they were a good distance away from the village.

"I think one of us are going to have to follow our targets." Naruto deliberated for a moment he would have suggested Jiraiya, but the man seemed off.

"I also want to ask the lady we saved earlier some questions so we can do that now or later. What do you want to do?" She shifted her emerald orbs to the taller blonde.

"Hmm, we can check out the village some more." She nodded and walked beside him taking in all the buildings and making a map of the place in her head.

"I wonder what's the youngest age group in this village it seems preposterous to not have any kids around." Naruto shifted Shinachiku in his arms and agreed. That was until he caught sight of people who looked around their age.

"I guess teens around our age." He said spitefully as some of the teens looked at Sakura with lustful eyes and catcalled like sleazy old men.

Naruto acted impulsively and grabbed Sakura's hand while glaring at the group. Sakura gasped and looked to where Naruto was glaring. "N-Naruto." She stuttered embarrassed.

"Sorry, Sakura-chan but we have to act like a couple since that's what Jiraiya said." He grinned at her holding her hand tighter. Sadly her cheeks reddened probably from embarrassment, but even she wasn't sure about that.

"B-Baka." Naruto thought that she would hit him, but all she did was huff and look away from him. Naruto flashed the group of guys a cocky smirk before turning and walking away from them.

The two didn't even notice Shinachiku's eyes light up red and slit. But the group of teens did, and they felt like the child could light them on fire at any given moment. They ran away screaming something about demon baby.

Shinachiku giggled while clapping his tiny hands as his eyes changed back to normal but three almost nonexistent lines on each cheek appeared on the baby's face.

 **.x.**

 **It seems that Shinachiku's features are starting to change whenever his eyes turn red. And what's up with Jiraiya?**

 **As a New Years present I'm not only going to update this story but Nanny or Mommy with 3k words instead of 2K. I'm feeling pretty good since my birthday, so maybe I'll post two chapters of Nanny or Mommy.**

 **I'm no longer stressed out since all my college applications are in and my DC classes are calming down.**

 **Next chapter or chapter after next shit hits the fan.**


	13. Mission: Aimi

**Chapter 13:**

 **Mission: Aimi**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

"Ok I've mapped out a majority of this village, and I now know where the major places are." Naruto stated at Sakura amazed he always admired how smart she was and to be able to map out the whole village that took excellent memory and intelligence.

"So to the hospital?" Naruto still stared at her in awe making Sakura's face heat up. "N-Naruto you can stop staring."

"Sorry Sakura-chan it's just you're so smart." Sakura smiled cockily at his compliment.

"I have to be good at something not everyone has a ninja clan or a demon inside of them." She realized what she said and turned her head to the blonde beside her quickly. Her words seemed to have put him in a trance. "Naruto I didn't mean that."

"You wouldn't have said it if you didn't mean it. But it's fine Sakura-chan you're right of course." Naruto shifted his attention to the child in his arms who was now gripping his blonde locks. "Aww come on Shinachiku don't pull on my hair."

"Maybe he's trying to tell you something," Sakura said teasingly with a smirk on her face.

"And what would that be?" He'll bite to her challenge.

"Your hair is starting to get pretty long pretty soon you'll start looking like a clone of the 4th Hokage." She giggled when he glared playfully at her.

"That's not true is it Shina?" Shina doesn't give any indication that he understood what Naruto was saying he just blinked. Which Sakura found quite hilarious.

"Told yaaa~" She said in a sing-song like voice. "Now come on the hospital awaits." She pulled him by the hand which he assumed was the direction to the building.

"Sakura-chan what if the woman isn't awake yet." She thought for just a moment on a plan in case that does happen.

"We wait by her bedside until she does wake up. For now, we should get our cover story right." She squeezed his hand tighter her eyes on the dirt road ahead of them. "We're a young couple with a baby if the woman asks how she got to the hospital we tell her that we saw what the Samurai did to her and once everyone left took her to the hospital to get the treatment she needed. Did you get that Naruto?"

Naruto took a moment to process their cover story and nodded realizing she couldn't see him with her eyes on what's in front of them he spoke. "Yeah, I got it." He sounded unsure to her, and had to make sure that he did get it and wasn't just saying so because he didn't want her to explain further or was just embarrassed. She stopped her pace and finally turned to look at the blonde.

"Naruto if you don't rea-"

"I got it Sakura-chan trust me." A heavy silence settled between the two. The silence was broken by the sounds of Shinachiku giggles. Sakura shifted her beautiful emeralds to the blonde child.

"Alright Naruto sorry about that I'm just on edge." She rubbed the back of her head almost ashamed.

"It's fine Sakura-chan I understand this isn't exactly where I want to be with a baby." She nodded still looking a bit guilty about not trusting his understanding.

"Alright let's just go. Hopefully, we'll find that pervert along the way." Naruto silently hoped not something was off about his godfather and he was also enjoying his time with Sakura and Shinachiku.

"Naruto have you noticed that every time we walk past someone they stare at us with a bewildered look." Naruto looked to where she was staring down two young adults whispering to each other while pointing fingers.

"Well if that lady was right then it's because they're not used to seeing babies, and we are a bit young to have a child." Sakura looked at him astonished that for once he actually sounded smart. "What? Is there something on my face?" He panicked touching his face with his one free hand. She sweatdropped at his stupid behavior.

"Let's just get to the hospital and see what that lady knows." Naruto nodded and walked closely alongside her their hands brushing against each other's every now and then. Naruto was in deep thought about how their relationship was progressing. Sure they've kissed but Sakura has yet to speak a word about it ever since it happened. He wasn't sure how she actually felt about him. He was anxiously waiting for a sign that she was ready for the next step in their relationship.

Naruto switched his hold on Shinachiku, so the hand that was nearly touching Sakura's was now holding Shina. Sakura herself was trying to not think about their kisses. She was afraid that if she did think about it, then she would do something she would possibly regret.

She didn't want to take that step, and if things don't work out, then it'll all be ruined. She blew a breath of relief when she saw the hospital coming up. "Let's go." She increased her speed with Naruto not too far behind her.

The hospital wasn't big nor small but compared to Konoha's hospital this one paled in comparison. Sakura was forming some ideas in her head if the hospital was anything like Konoha's then there was bound to be gossip among the nurses. That could be another way to gather information. She would inform Jiraiya of her idea later, but right now they had a woman to check up on. Walking up to the front desk Sakura did all of the talking.

"Excuse me was there a woman brought in by a guy with white hair?" The nurse didn't answer her too distracted by Shinachiku's cuteness. Sakura gave the woman a deadpanned look not amused at how distracted she easily got. "Excuse me..." an angry tick was now throbbing on her forehead as she felt her calmness slip away with each passing second.

"S-Sakura-chan?" Naruto definitely noticed since he could feel the malicious aura coming off of her.

"Can I hold him?" That seemed to be the straw that broke the camel's back.

"Excuse me, but we don't have time for this now do you know where the woman who was brought in by a white-haired man is?!" The whole hospital seemed to be staring at her after her outburst.

"Uh, what my wife meant to say was that we're looking for that woman and would really like to find her. Please?" He grinned down at the receptionist nervously as she eyed them both tightly.

"Alright, I'll check. Do you know the time of day?"

"Morning." She grumbled under her breath. The woman looked and just their luck she was actually there in room 103. Following the directions she gave them they found her room pretty quickly.

Sakura and Naruto exchanged nervous looks. Sakura sighed and knocked on the door a soft voice answered her telling her to come in. Sakura gripped the handle and slid it open to reveal the woman that they saved just yesterday. Studying her closely her brown hair went down to the middle of her back. Her eyes were a gorgeous shade of purple that made amethyst gems pale in comparison.

"Hi." Her eyes brightened when she laid them on the three of them.

"Hello." She said her voice soft just like their friend Hinata.

"I don't mean to disturb you, but we saw you yesterday being...hurt by that samurai and took you here. We just wanted to make sure you're ok." Sakura sat down in the chair beside the woman checking her carefully to make sure she's all healed up. The woman smiled brightly at the pinkette for being so concerned for her, a stranger.

"I'm fine just a few bruised ribs and a small concussion. I thought for sure that it was much worse." She said not knowing that it was actually much worse but Sakura healed her a little.

"Why did that samurai attack you?" The moment of truth they would finally find out why she was beaten by that man.

The brunette sighed and glanced out of the one window in the room. She was trying to come up with the words to tell them without being judged and losing them. "I'm the wife of that samurai."

"What!?" Naruto shouted enraged that a man would do that to his own wife. "Why would someon—"

"Are you two married?" The woman cut him off eyeing them closely her eyes no longer as sweet and gentle as they use to be.

"Y-yes," Sakura answered back hesitantly the woman just passed it off as shyness.

"Then you would know that you would do anything for each other correct?" Naruto and Sakura looked at each other her green eyes lit with uncertainty and his filled with determination.

"Yeah, I would," Naruto replied his eyes only on Sakura that he didn't even notice the smile on the woman's face.

"I didn't catch your names." Snapping out of their trance Sakura answered for the both of them.

"I'm Masami that's Kazu, and the small one is Shinachiku what's your name?" Naruto looked at her catching her lie but not pointing it out.

"Aimi." She smiled as Shina giggled while in his "father's" arms.

"Can I hold him?" Sakura wasn't sure if she trusted the woman enough to let her hold Shina, but Naruto didn't seem to have a problem with it. He handed Aimi Shina gently.

"Such a cute baby he looks like both of you." Sakura silently groaned as she added another person to the list who thought that Shina looked like them. He did of course, but that doesn't mean that Sakura has to accept it besides it was kind of scary how the baby looked like them so much. "You must have had him at such a young age."

Sakura's face lit up red she's still in her teen and imagining herself getting pregnant at such a young age sounded preposterous and by Naruto nonetheless. She can hardly look him in the eye after their kisses. To go all the way with the blonde... oddly enough she wasn't as creeped out or disgusted by the thought at all.

Naruto looked down at the pinkette who looked ready to faint at any moment now. Clearing his throat, he was going to throw her a bone. "We have loved each other for years, and It wasn't exactly on purpose."

"Hmm you two seem trustworthy I'll tell you what happened." Aimi stared into Shina's green eyes as she recalled the events that led up to her ending up in the hospital.

"You see one night I overheard my husband talking to his second in command. Usually what they talk about is going out and taking whatever they want which varies from gold, valuable items, even young woman. What stuck out to me this time was that they were arguing and talking about owing a man a favor. Jin'ichi, the second in command sounded scared that was the day before yesterday. I had a gut feeling that something bad was going on, so I followed them for a day."

"Before yesterday my husband has never laid a hand on me until they caught me following them. Before I was caught, I saw that the group gathered in a well-lit cave not far from here and the smell of blood was thick in the air." She took a break from talking to drink some water.

"I was inching closer to the cave where screams were coming out of until a patrol caught me. I thought for sure I was a goner. But it seemed that they just wanted to use me as an example, but still, it seemed suspicious that they didn't kill me. I-I think my husband is involved in the case with the missing people and their missing h-hearts." Tears that she held back until she finished her story finally busted through the dam. Sakura got up and rubbed the woman's back she knew precisely what it's like to know that the man you love is up to no good and to not be able to do anything about it.

Naruto sighed and went to the window to think clearly about the new information they just received. He wasn't sure what their next move was going to be since he wasn't expecting the woman to know as much as she did.

"Kazu we should get going and find J—your godfather. I don't think that this place is safe enough to raise Shina. Thank you for telling us all of this Aimi." Aimi sniffed and hugged Sakura one more time before they left.

"Sak—Masami." Naruto corrected himself when they walked pass a nurse looking down at her clipboard. "What are we going to do?"

"Like I said find Jiraiya and see if he has anything to build on this investigation." Naruto sighed and followed the pinkette looking at his surroundings. "Do you know where he could be?"

Naruto thought for a moment where ever sake and women were then that's where Jiraiya was. "We could see if there's a hot spring here." Sakura groaned but agreed.

It took them not even 15 minutes to find him once they asked for directions and not to their surprise Jiraiya was spying on women bathing. Jiraiya was lucky that she was holding Shinachiku or the pervy man would be sent flying all the way across the world. "Bah bah!" She looked at Shina who was holding his arms out to be picked up by the pervert.

Jiraiya turned to find two disappointed looks glaring down at him. He could always count on Shinachiku to greet him happily. "Ah, Naruto and Sakura you found me anything to report?"

"Bah bah bah!" Shinachiku really wanted to get carried by the pervert. Jiraiya reluctantly relented and took the child who happily giggled after getting his way.

"We talked to the woman from yesterday I think we should get somewhere more secure though," Sakura said looking around just in case someone was hiding and listening.

"Right."

The trio plus Shinachiku all gathered in Jiraiya's room as he puts a sound seal on the wall. "Alright let's hear what you got." Sakura sat Shina on the floor to play with some toys they brought along.

After telling Jiraiya everything about the conversation not leaving one shred of detail out, he sat there contemplating something. It's so unlike the man to be so serious, but it is understandable since people are dying and their mission is to find out why.

"The first thing that comes to my mind is kinjutsu." He suddenly said after about 5 minutes of thinking.

"What is kinjutsu pervy-sage?" Sakura nodded she also wanted to know what that was. She doesn't recall any books mentioning such a thing as kinjutsu.

"Geez, what are they teaching you kids in the academy. No matter, kinjutsu are techniques that have been banned from use or being taught. My first thought is to go straight to Orochimaru, but I'm not sure what he would gain from using this tiny village to do his bidding."

"But the hearts what could Orochimaru possibly need hearts from a village like this when he has his own sound village to do with as he pleases." Jiraiya shrugged the mood in the room was somber as they thought about people who could want innocents hearts.

"What about Akatsuki?" Naruto asked.

"While they are just as crazy as my old teammate the only thing they're after are the Bijuus," Jiraiya answered getting a nod from the blonde. He didn't even want to think about what the Akatsuki would do if they found out he has a "baby". It was back to the drawing board.

"Are we going to check out this cave or wait a little bit?"

"We'll wait I don't want to put you two in any unnecessary danger until I have every piece of the puzzle I need to ease my suspicion." Sakura agreed with that one of them would have to stay behind to take care of Shinachiku and it was most likely going to be her.

"Wait? But the longer we wait, the more people die." No one said anything sometimes you had to sacrifice the one to save the five. Deep down Naruto knew that but that doesn't mean he would accept it.

The blonde got off of the bed to stand by the window he couldn't sit at a time like this. He hated feeling helpless especially when he could do something anything.

"Pah!" He felt a sudden pull on his pants to find Shinachiku there not crawling or sitting like he usually does but standing on two shaky legs.

"Sakura-chan he's standing!" Sakura looked over to find that Naruto was right. Sakura gasped and stood up and walked over to them quickly. "Wait Sakura-chan let's see how far he can walk."

Sakura grinned and backed up a short distance so Shinachiku could walk to her. "Shina. I have your favorite food come to Sakura-chan." She cooed as Naruto also tried to guide Shinachiku to Sakura.

Shina giggled happily and took a few shaky steps before falling on his rump. Surprisingly Shina didn't cry like most babies he just looked around confusedly with his green eyes.

"I'm so proud of you Shinachiku. Not only did you stand up but you also took your first steps." Sakura scooped the blonde into her arms and pecked him repeatedly on the face while hugging him tightly. Naruto watched from the side and was hesitant to do what he wanted which was wrap them both in a hug.

"Naruto." Sakura smiled sweetly at him looking at him expectingly with her hand outstretched to him.

Naruto grinned and walked over to her and slowly wrapped his arms around them both while resting his head on top of Sakura's head. He's never felt so complete he had two of the most important people in his life wrapped in his embrace.

Jiraiya watched off to the side with a content look on his face. Where he had failed with Tsunade Naruto will succeed with Sakura. That baby is the best thing to happen to them both he just hoped they're prepared to give him up to his real parents.

 **Xxx**

 **Last time I updated I was finished filling out college applications now I'm also half way down with my first year of college. Time sure does fly. Anyway I hope you guys enjoyed this update**

 **Had to throw in that moment at the end to cheer the mood up. My mind isn't blocked, and I know where my next destination is. Sorry for the wait I couldn't think of anything to write for this chapter, but I've been inspired to continue someone got to keep the Narusaku fanfics going. Hope you enjoyed this chapter review and tell me what you think.**


	14. Mission: Game On

**Chapter 14:**

 **Mission: Game On**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

It was the middle of the night yet both Naruto and Sakura were wide awake in their shared room. Sakura wanted to keep Shinachiku close to her, so he was laying beside her asleep with a pacifier in his mouth and a blanket covering him. Sakura laid on her side eyeing every single detail on Shinachiku's face.

She didn't want to say it, but she felt like a bad person. Despite Shinachiku being abandoned she still thought that his parents were going to come back for him at any moment. She wouldn't be able to just let him go after creating a strong bond in such a short time. She loved the blonde like a mother loved her child. Watching Shinachiku take his first steps really opened her eyes and got her thinking and hoping. As horrible as it may sound she hoped that they never find Shina's actual parents. She also wanted to teach Shina how to talk and maybe call her mama.

 _God listen to me I'm a teenager thinking about this kind of stuff._

She poked the baby on the stomach and watched as he smiled in his sleep even with the pacifier in his mouth. She giggled at the blonde's reaction his cuteness was just too much for her to handle.

She should be sleeping yet she couldn't not with her thoughts all over the place. The mission, Shina, Shina's birth parents, Naruto, even the village she didn't even have enough thinking space for Sasuke.

Sakura looked over at the other bed where her teammate was with his back to her. She wasn't sure what to think of the blonde and tried not to consider anything other than friendship. It would be so much easier if he just stopped looking at her like he did. She shifted her eyes away from the blonde when she noticed him moving around. _Was he not asleep?_

"Sakura-chan you're still up?" It seemed that her silent question was answered and he didn't sound sleepy at all, so that meant he has been awake for quite some time.

"Y-yeah...you're still up also." She looked up and could see his cerulean eyes light up in the dark looking at her carefully. She would be lying if she said that his look wasn't making her feel uncomfortable.

"Heh, I was just thinking." To her relief, his glowing orbs were no longer on her but on Shina.

"Care to explain I don't plan on going to sleep anytime soon." She smiled at him from where she lay with her head on her hand. It was late, but they really needed to talk about everything.

"It's nothing really just a bad feeling." She was skeptical about his answer since she knew that he wouldn't stay up so late just thinking about a bad gut feeling. So she decided to take the initiative.

"Naruto...am I a bad person?" That seemed to grab his attention since he sat up quickly with widened deep blue eyes. "I-I don't want to give Shina up, and part of me would be happy if we get to keep him forever."

He was silent for a moment thinking about the fact that he also didn't want to give Shina back. "No, you're a kind, gentle, caring beautiful person who would use every inch of chakra to heal someone who's at death's door. So what if we're a bit selfish that's just part of being a human being. Shina's parents left him so you shouldn't feel bad because they couldn't give him the love that we're giving him." Naruto seemed to have got closer throughout his speech so now he was sitting on the floor beside her bed. He stroked Shinachiku's hair but never took his eyes off of Sakura. "You're the most amazing and strongest woman I know." He flashed her his widest grin causing her cheeks to brighten.

"Flattering..." Naruto chuckled now shifting his eyes to their charge who was currently resting with a small smile on his face. The pacifier must have fallen out while they were looking at each other. "Still thank you Naruto. You always know what to say to cheer me up." This time she giggled when his cheeks turned as pink as her hair.

"To be honest Sakura-chan, I feel the same way. I've never had a family before, but when I'm with you and Shina, it feels like I've known this feeling my whole life." Sakura shyly smiled as she rested her hand on top of his. She hated and loved how he could make her heart beat so fast with just words alone.

"So that's what you were thinking about..." Naruto licked his chapped lips and nodded he had this strange look on his face like he was holding something back. "Naruto I can tell when you're hiding something just tell me the truth." He still wouldn't even tell her anything.

"Please?" She pleaded tightening her grip on his hand.

Unfortunately, she wasn't prepared for what he had to say at all despite her thinking about it since it happened. "Why did you kiss me? You said it yourself that you didn't want to ruin our friendship...yet you do these things that-that triggers these feelings in me."

He looked from one eye to the other trying to figure out her motives like a puzzle. He could look all he wanted, but she's just as clueless as he was. "I-I..." What could she say to the man in front of her?

"I'll admit I didn't expect this to come up." She's stalling trying to rack her mind for an answer to his question.

"You asked me to forget about an almost kiss but how can I when you keep leading me on. You already know how I feel, but Sakura-chan do you like me or not?" Sakura's breath quickened as the moment she admitted it to herself and him came.

"Naruto I'm not sure." He wasn't asking her to love him but to admit that she at least liked him enough to go the extra mile maybe. She could be such a screw up sometimes for example right now.

"I see." He pulled away from her hand and went back to his own side and turned back over so his back was facing her.

She bit her lip nervously she couldn't just leave it how it was they're best friends and could get through this little bump in the road.

"Naruto I'm just sca—"

"Yeah I know scared to ruin our friendship but the constant show of affection it's throwing me off. I just want to know what's going on in the big ole brain of yours." He said without even turning to look at her. At times like these, she wished her inner was still with her, but ever since she started training with Tsunade, she seemed to have disappeared.

Above everything she just wanted to comfort him even if it wasn't something, she would typically do. She took a deep breath and fought down her blush. "Naruto come back." She only received silence much to her annoyance. "Please?" It wasn't every day that Sakura Haruno was pleading for something, especially to her blonde teammate. On the bright side, that seemed to kick him into gear. Naruto sighed and went back to his spot beside her bed.

She blushed as she prepared her next words. "H-h-hold m-me?" She sounded like Hinata to her chagrin.

"W-what?" He looked at her so close she felt like she didn't have anything on it only made her blush worse. She hoped she didn't have to repeat herself, but of course, she did.

"I said h-hold me." This time she said it a little more firmly but still stuttered just a bit.

Naruto was frozen in place the love of his life was asking him to hold her. He was a bit skeptical since he didn't want to be on the receiving end of her fist. Then again why would she ask such a thing was she misleading him like always?

Naruto sighed and looked away he didn't need her pity he's gone years without her feeling the same way for him he can do some more. "Sakura-chan you shouldn't say things that you don't mean." He said with an angry expression on his face.

"Baka I'm serious get behind me and hold me before I change my mind." She snapped threateningly raising her fist. His angered Look was wiped away quickly when he noticed her clenched fist and pulsing vein.

"O-ok Sakura-chan." Naruto went around to the other side of the bed where Sakura made room for him to lay down and hold her. To say he was nervous was an understatement. His heart was pounding faster and faster the closer he got to her. He watched as she pulled back the covers where he can slide in. Naruto sat down on the bed and put both his legs under the covers. He turned so his chest met her back Naruto's face combusted when a particular part of him touch a forbidden spot on her. Sakura herself was barely keeping her composure and was biting her tongue to fight off her instincts to punch him in a very embarrassing situation.

Naruto was afraid to wrap his arms around her he wasn't letting go if he did and that's exactly what he told her. "S-Sakura-chan if I hold y-you I'm not letting go." Sakura was silent for a moment, but it felt like an eternity for Naruto.

"What if I don't want you to?" With those words, she reached behind her and took his shaking hand into hers. She slowly bought it over her hip and waited with bated breath. After a moment or so she felt his tense body relax behind her and his arm around her tighten. She wasn't getting out of his grasp without chakra that's for sure.

"What does this mean?" He whispered blowing his warm breath on the nape of her neck. She shivered and had to bite her tongue not to make a suggestive sound.

"It means we can give it a try." Naruto buried his face into the nape of her neck grinning brightly. Sakura could tell that she just made him the happiest man in the world. His happiness was contagious, and she found herself smiling too.

Sakura watched Shinachiku sleep in front of her and reached over to hold his hand. After everything, her eyes felt like they had weights on them and were slowly dropping.

"Goodnight Sakura-chan." Before she fell into a deep sleep, she made sure to snuggle closer to him for extra warmth.

Naruto, on the other hand, was sleepy but wanted to stay up a bit longer to look at Sakura. He couldn't believe that Sakura-chan said they could try. Whether she said that out of pity or not he was going to try his hardest to make her as happy as possible. He had Shinachiku and Sakura he felt like he was on top of the world.

Naruto laid back down and fell asleep after pecking Sakura on the forehead.

...

 _Giggling_

She wanted to find out who was giggling and why but she was way too comfortable to even think about moving. Unfortunately, the giggling wasn't subsiding then the sound of paper and something writing on the paper entered her ears.

Sakura sighed and forced herself to open an eye and hopefully get rid of the sound that was disturbing her sleep.

There in front of her was Naruto's pervert sannin Sensei writing down on a notepad while grinning and giggling madly. It didn't set in on why he was writing and laughing until she remembered that he was the creator of the icha icha series and often needed "inspiration" to keep it up. Then her mind went to what happened at the early hour with her and Naruto. Once putting two and two together her face immediately turned red with both embarrassment and anger.

"You pervert!" She growled pulling herself from Naruto's loosened arms and chased after Jiraiya.

"I couldn't pass up the opportunity!" He dodged her fist narrowly, but the wall wasn't so lucky. It's a good thing she wasn't using chakra or that wall would have been obliterated.

"Sakura-chan?" Both Jiraiya and Sakura turned their attention to the blonde who was still half asleep looking for her with his hand. Sakura turned her attention back to Jiraiya to find him writing down furiously much to her embarrassment.

"Pervert!" She punched him and made sure she kicked him out of their room. Sakura huffed. She can't believe he would use them as smut material for his disgusting books.

"Was that Pervy-sage?" She turned just in time to see the blonde stretch and yawn.

"Y-yeah he must have picked the lock and got in and saw u-us like...that and started writing in his pervert notepad." Just thinking about the situation was making her angry. She embraced the anger in favor of her embarrassment from their earlier talk and actions.

Naruto grinned at her with adoration all over his face. She covered her heated cheeks with her hands and turned away from him to avoid his eyes. "Sakura-chan—"

"W-we should wake Shinachiku and get some breakfast." She quickly interjected she didn't know why she was nervous maybe it's because she didn't know how to act now that she was giving him a chance. I mean she never had a boyfriend before but should she consider him her boyfriend? Was she suppose to act the same or more in love? She liked that blond but did she love him in a romantic sense.

She shook her head and focused her attention on the still sleeping baby. It was strange that after all that commotion Shina was still asleep. "Shinachiku time to wake up." She smiled and waited for a moment to see his eyes open and reveal round, innocent, and big emerald green eyes that rivaled her own in brightness.

"Shina?" She reached down to shake the child awake, but the moment she touched the child, she quickly pulled back. Sakura gasped as she held her hand that felt like it's been burned. It was like touching a hot pan that just came out of the oven.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto was by her side in an instant looking at the wound intently. She hadn't felt such heat since that time when Naruto turned four tails on the bridge against Orochimaru.

"No human being's temperature should be this high we should get Shina in some cold water to cool him down. I'll start the bath you go find Jiraiya." She said still eyeing the now whimpering child with a look of sadness. How could she not have noticed sooner? Of course she couldn't, it wasn't until she touched the child did it suddenly happen.

"Sakura-ch—"

"Now Naruto!" She wanted Narutk to get Jiraiya because she felt that he would know what's going on. But for now, if she didn't get his temperature down soon, then he would die even if his temperature was already abnormally high. _Hang on Shinachiku._

Xxx

"So these are the results?" Koharu asked skepticism oozing out of her tone. Tsunade had to resist the urge to glare at the old woman for asking such a dumb question when she was looking at the results right in front of her.

"Yes, It is." She gritted out silently praying for some sake to ease her forming headache.

"With all due respect Tsunade-hime, you have to see where we're coming from doubting these results," Homura said.

"We know how you feel about those two and we know you would do anything to protect them. So we've decided to confirm these results with a medic of our own." Tsunade gritted her teeth she had to do something to convince them otherwise.

"I'm the best medical ninja in all the four hidden villages, yet you don't believe that I can do a simple DNA test." Her temper was rising, and at any given moment she would snap.

"You know what we mean we're not changing our answer." Koharu set down the results and looked at Tsunade closely.

"Sorry to disappoint but Naruto Sakura and the brat aren't in the village at the moment. Unfortunately, since Shinachiku is a new resident of this village we don't have a blood sample to test." She was lying through her teeth but they didn't need to know that. It was a good thing she kept the blood sample in a secret place that only she knew.

"Why would you send them away unless you have something to hide." Finally, the last council member spoke up his one visible eye looking right through her excuse.

"A baby is quite expensive they'll need money so I just gave them a low C-rank." She replied easily.

"Tsunade-Hime I'm sure you're well aware of what will happen if we find out you're lying." Tsunade knew it's not like she wanted to be the Hokage anyway but in this position she could help Naruto out a lot.

"I'm well aware Homura I'm being honest Shinachiku is not by any means related to Naruto or Sakura." She declared silencing whatever else the three council members were going to say. Her last chance to tell the truth just went out the window, and now there's no going back.

"It has a name...very well but one test does not please us Tsunade-hime the moment they come back I'll personally have a medic double check. Is that understood?" Koharu said looking at Tsunade with a look that said she doesn't have a choice.

"Crystal." She grunted standing up and leaving all while thinking of a way to fool a DNA test. She was the damn Hokage, yet she's being told what to do by them as if she isn't leading this village. She was going to have to send a scroll to Jiraiya soon about how the meeting went. Tsunade glared down at the floor deep in thought until she sensed svillage following her. She paused and shifted her glare to the person who dared interrupt her thinking.

"I'm sure you're thinking of ways to get out of doing the second DNA test I'm here to offer my assistance." The old war hawk said a small smirk on his partially covered face. She would have laughed in his face if she wasn't so angry,

"I'm not because Shinachiku isn't Naruto and Sakura's child. You and those old coots should know better then to listen to gossip." She faced back front to continue her trek to her office where she knew her assistant was with stacks of paperwork and her beloved sake.

"We all know the truth we're just seeing how long you'll play this lying game." Tsunade turned back and grinned menacingly at the older man.

"There's no game but if you want to play then by all means I'm not going to stop you. We all know how desperate you are for something to do schemes and games are what you do best. So try not to have to much fun entertaining yourself." She walked away the only sound in the line hallway were her heels clicking against the floors which seemed to echo in the silence.

"Game on indeed." Danzo said to himself as he watched as the Godaime Hokage walked away from him unknowing of his plans. She's right about one thing schemes are he forte.

Xxx

 **Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year last update of the year. Hopefully by the time I've put this up I'd have started on Nanny or Mommy and have it up before the end of the year.**


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